Knicks official: Hart s right ring finger surgery is completed and he will return to the market at the end of this summer

On July 17, the Knicks officially announced that the team defender Hart's right ring finger had undergone surgery.

According to the Knicks, Hart had the first time this injury occurred during the team's playoff journey to the Eastern Conference Finals. The team expects him to return to the field at some point in the late summer. Hart, 30, graduated from Villanova University, has become a beloved key role player on the Knicks for parts of the past three seasons.

In the 2024-25 season, Hart served as a full-time starter for the Knicks for the first time. In 77 regular season games where he played healthy, he averaged 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

Last year, Hart just fulfilled his first season of a four-year, $80.9 million contract with the Knicks. He will be a full free agent again in the 2027-28 season.

Although the Knicks finished with a record of 51 wins and 31 losses and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a quarter-century, the team fired the long-time head coach after Thibodeau coached for five seasons and overall performance, and Mike Brown became the team's new coach.