Josh Hart is inching closer to a return.
The Knicks forward has progressed to more on-court work and rejoined shooting drills after missing nearly two weeks with back spasms suffered during New York’s preseason opener in Abu Dhabi.
“They’re ramping it up a little bit,” head coach Mike Brown said after practice at the team’s Tarrytown training facility on Wednesday.
Hart has yet to fully rejoin practice, and Brown said it remains unclear whether the 29-year-old will be available for the Knicks’ preseason finale Friday against the Charlotte Hornets.
“Well, I don’t know yet [if he’ll be available for Friday], but first thing is, that’s why you got — we got 21 guys [in training camp],” Brown said. “We always talk about next man up, next man up and keep yourself ready because you never know when your number’s called. So it’s two-fold: It gets those guys mentally ready for that. It gives other guys opportunities. It gives me an opportunity to see others.”
Hart entered training camp with a splint on his surgically repaired right ring finger before suffering the back injury just seven minutes into the opener against the Philadelphia 76ers. Thursday marks two weeks since the versatile forward last participated in full practice or game action.
While Hart’s absence has allowed Brown to experiment with other lineup combinations, it has also prevented New York from seeing its full rotation together as the team installs new offensive and defensive principles in Year 1 of the Brown era.
“I think we’re excited for the season to start,” OG Anunoby said after practice Wednesday. “But we’re also still fortunate for these days to learn, grow, figure ourselves out and prepare for the long season.”
Hart, who averaged 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game last season, will face a steep learning curve when he returns. Brown’s offensive system emphasizes pace, spacing, ball movement, paint touches and spray-out threes. Defensively, the new coach has installed a more aggressive, pressure-oriented approach at the point of attack and a new system for helping the on-ball defender.
“Just the ball handler, the person guarding the ball knowing there’s help behind you and knowing where it’s coming from and the just everyone being on a string,” Anunoby added. “We’re figuring it out as well. We’re not used to it fully, but it’s getting better and better, and I think the coaches are doing a good job of emphasizing to us, showing us on film where we need to be, and then we go out there and try to execute.”
Hart, like many of his teammates, struggled to find rhythm within those new concepts during the preseason opener, finishing with just two points, three rebounds and an assist in seven minutes off the bench before exiting with the injury.
Brown said he’s in no rush to accelerate the recovery process for his Swiss Army Knife forward, whose versatility and energy remain vital to the Knicks’ identity on both ends of the floor.
The Knicks’ medical and performance staff — led by vice president of sports medicine Casey Smith — will continue to manage Hart’s ramp-up carefully. Smith and his team oversaw a group that lost the fewest games to injury in the NBA last season, a trend New York hopes to replicate.
“At the end of the day, Josh is an extremely important part of our process,” Brown said. “We know this is gonna be a process.”
EVERYONE COMPETES
Hart might be sidelined, but the Knicks built their camp roster with depth in mind — 21 players competing to prove they belong on a contender operating with little financial flexibility beneath the second apron.
For Brown, that competitive environment is by design. Every player in camp, he said, is fighting for something: a spot, a role, or a chance to be part of a team chasing the championship standard the Eastern Conference now demands.
“Hundred percent, yeah, and sometimes, we play a ton of games. Everybody in this business is a pro, and anybody that’s a pro can have an exceptional night,” he said. “So sometimes, it just wasn’t meant for you to win, but if you’re trying to adhere to what your standard is, it’s all you can ask for, like you said, at certain times. You move on. But those things have to be here day-in, day-out, night-in, night-out, 24/7, 365 days a year.”
