OG Anunoby’s return next season, already a full participant in practice and awaiting his final thumbs up for games, will once again shake up a rotation that has seen more reboots than Law & Order.
Josh Hart, who was the starting small forward while Anunoby injured his elbow, understands his playing time will be reduced.
Otherwise, he’s happy to take on the same role in Heart & Soul.
“Let’s see. My job is to come out on the scene with energy and do the little things. And that’s what I’m going to do,” Hart told the Post. “He’s going to be back and obviously he’s going to make some big plays and my minutes are going to be reduced.
“But my job is to go out and have energy, contagiousness and be aggressive in my spot. And just be the glue guy, allowing people to go out and play the game. Be a practical man.”
Hart underestimates himself a bit.
Without Anunoby, Randle and, at times, Jalen Brunson, Hart has been more of a playmaker since Jan. 30, leading the team in total assists and rebounds. That’s more than 20 percent of the season with Hart as the top facilitator.
But it is also a product of availability and accumulation.
Since Anunoby went down, Hart has averaged 40.7 minutes, the highest in the NBA over the last 4 1/2 weeks.
He, Precious Achiuwa and Donte DiVincenzo filled the holes left by injuries, struggling rookies Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, who proved unreliable especially after arriving from Detroit. Friday’s win over the Magic reduced Burks’ playing time to just five hours.
With Anunoby in the Knicks’ lineup for 14 games in January, Hart averaged 27.7 minutes as a backup. Therefore, we can expect an inevitable decline for Hart.
He and Anunoby could play together if the Knicks go small, as they did in the fourth-quarter “death lineup” in January. That means Hart will get more playing time as a backup power forward.
But his days of averaging over 40 will likely be forgotten with Anunoby’s return. Anunoby underwent minor elbow surgery and, according to Tom Thibodeau, requires the “final step” of medical approval before he can begin playing in the NBA.
“He’s already [practiced]. That means if we see his reaction the next day and the doctor clears him, he can go,” the coach said.
Since joining the starting lineup, Achiuwa is likely to see reduced minutes, especially if or if Julius Randle returns from a dislocated shoulder.
Randall’s recovery has not been linear due to the pain and risk of re-aggravation associated with the injury.
He has not yet been able to contact the players during practice.
Meanwhile, Achiuwa is averaging a double-double (12.3 points, 10.1 boards) over his last 10 games.
“The game tells us what we need,” Thibodeau said. “We need everyone to move forward. Ideally, we want everyone to be there, that’s the goal. When you have a full roster, you’re asking your players to make sacrifices. We’ve asked that all year. That hasn’t changed. Put the team first. That doesn’t mean you’re less valuable to us. Everyone on the roster is valuable to the team.”
The point Thibodeau left out is that some players are more valuable than others.
Thanks to Hart and Brunson, the Knicks have managed to survive at 8-9 despite injuries since Anunoby and Randle both missed the first game.
But the defense has taken a big hit, and the Knicks, who sit fourth in the East, have bigger goals.
“Hopefully, we can get our members back and get back to regularly scheduled programming,” Hart said.
For Hart, regular programming means less time, but the same amount of effort.
