Josh Hart Is Making The Most Of His Extra Shots With Trail Blazers

Since arriving in Portland at the trade deadline, veteran Josh Hart has found new opportunities to expand his game. The 27-year-old is currently averaging 19.9 points as a member of the Blazers, proving himself capable of scoring in a variety of ways not seen in prior stops Los Angeles or New Orleans.

Higher volume, same carefulness

On the surface, one might fear Hart is the typical example of a good stat player on a bad team, as the Blazers have become a ghost of themselves in recent months, after dealing CJ McCollum to New Orleans, losing Damian Lillard for the season, and seeing breakout star Anfernee Simons also miss significant time this month.

Instead, Hart seems have been able to increase his volume without sacrificing his careful approach to the game. He isn’t forcing up bad shots, he’s leaning into his passing, and the game seems to have slowed down for him. Hart is attempting 14.1 shots per game for the Blazers, by far the biggest amount of shots of any point in this career so far, with his previous high for a season checking in at 8.2 per game

While Hart has doubled his three-point attempt rate since joining the Blazers from 3.2 to 6.4 nightly attempts, he hasn’t just been setting up camp from behind the long line. Hart is also attempting 4.4 free throws per game as a Blazer, a mark that would easily represent a career-high. His 75.4% success rate near the basket also shows a player in more control and more analytical in this approach.

Hart is simply showing us all that he had more to offer, than being pigeonholed as a rebounder, with a nose for opportunistic scoring.

Now, Hart is creating more off his own accord. During the month of March, he’s been assisted on just 43.1% of his shots, a number that in any previous month of the season never dipped below 54.5%. Hart’s newfound ability to self-create has drastically lifted his own ceiling for the type of offensive player he can become.

While he isn’t Kyrie Irving out there, Hart has turned into a nimble ball handler who can keep ball alive for longer, allowing him to more efficiently get from Point A to Point B.

Sustainability

It’s fair to wonder if Hart will be able to mimic what he’s doing now during the 2022-2023 season with the return of Lillard and Simons, plus a potential acquisition of Jerami Grant if the rumor mill is true. That pushes Hart down the totem pole by quite a bit, suggesting he instead makes up for any lack of volume production by dialing up the efficiency.

(The fact that the Blazers could conceivably win the draft lottery and pick favorite Jabari Smith would also further complicate matters for Hart in terms of future playing time and shot opportunities.)

That said, Hart should be perfectly suitable to place next to Lillard specifically for years to come as a secondary decision maker, who plays a calculated brand of basketball, one strengthened by improved handles, a more refined shot, and a maintained effort on the glass.

While Hart stands just 6’5, his positional flexibility is also worth noting. The fact that he’s one of the best wing rebounders in the entire league provides him with some qualities usually not found in players his size. This should – in theory – allow the Blazers to use him in most lineups, including as a big guard or a small power forward, of which that specific constellation is fairly rare.

Contractually, Hart is amazingly on a fully non-guaranteed contract next year worth a smidge over $12.9 million, which the Blazers are obviously expected to guarantee. His modest compensation level will go a long way in keep Portland’s cap sheet as healthy as possible over the next few years.