Josh Hart on Knicks contract talks: ‘I’m not really too stressed over it’

Josh Hart sounds a little more relaxed about his contract situation than he did a month ago.

The Knicks announced Friday that they are pausing extension talks with eligible players until later in the season, a group that includes Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns and Miles McBride.

Hart had previously acknowledged that unresolved negotiations can “wear people down” and suggested things could feel different by February if no deal was reached.

On Saturday, though, his tone was calmer.

“I don’t know. I mean, everything’s gonna work out,” Hart said, via SNY. “I’m not really too stressed over it, putting too much into it.”

Hart added that the Knicks’ championship expectations make it easier to focus on basketball.

“We have a hell of a team that’s going to try and repeat,” he said. “So, it’s not frustrating.”

That doesn’t mean the uncertainty disappears entirely.

“There’ll be days where you don’t think about it, where you’re just like, ‘you know, [expletive], let’s go hoop,’” Hart said, via Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “And then other days where it’s top of the mind. We’re human.”

Hart will make about $20.9 million this season, while the Knicks hold a $22.4 million team option for 2027-28.

Winfield reported that Hart has been willing to take significantly less than the four-year, $132 million maximum extension he is eligible to receive in order to help New York keep its core together.

Towns has reportedly been willing to do something similar, though his talks with the Knicks have been far more contentious.

So Hart may not be losing sleep over any of this. But by his own admission, he’s still human enough to think about it.