PHILADELPHIA — Tom Thibodeau seemed like a happy coach Thursday afternoon.
While he couldn’t directly talk about the Knicks’ trade to acquire Josh Hart until it became official, he did offer some roundabout thoughts on the potential addition of Jalen Brunson’s college teammate and appeared excited about the move.
“I have great respect for him. He’s been a top-flight competitor in the league for a long time, and he brings a lot of intangibles to the game,” the Knicks’ coach said, when asked about his general feelings about Hart the player. “A lot of respect for him.”
The Knicks sent the Trail Blazers a lottery-protected 2023 first-round pick along with Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono and Svi Mykhailiuk.
Thibodeau didn’t say if he expected Hart to start or if he would expand his rotation to 10 after playing with nine over the last two-plus months. He reiterated his stance from Tuesday that he loved the Knicks’ roster and was happy with the progress their young players have made.
The Knicks acquired Josh Hart from the Trail Blazers in a trade Wednesday night. AP“With that being said, you also look at what the possibilities are, and how can we improve our team. We always start internally and then we look externally, and any time we have a chance to improve the team, we have to take a good, hard look at it.”
The 6-foot-4 Hart was averaging 9.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 33.4 minutes. He keyed a win for Portland over the Knicks at the Garden on Nov. 25, when he had 10 points, 19 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Knick head coach Tom Thibodeau Charles Wenzelberg/NY Post“He’s probably the best rebounding guard in the league,” Thibodeau said at the time.
“It’s like anything, you look at where has he been, who’s he been around, what has he done, how has he done it, and then you ask yourself, does he fit into our group?” Thibodeau said, speaking generally about what the Knicks look for in a player at the trade deadline. “And there are a number of things you have to look at, what drives achievement, what drives improvement. It’s not just collecting talent – that’s the biggest mistake people make in this league. It’s all the other stuff that’s really important.”
