The Knicks have plenty of contract chatter swirling right now, but Miles McBride may be the name that tells the real story of where this front office is headed.
Karl-Anthony Towns is eligible for an extension, and the two sides are reportedly far apart. Josh Hart is also extension-eligible. McBride, though, is the one whose future feels most precarious because he doesn’t have options for next season and is moving toward free agency unless he gets a new deal.
That’s why some around the league have started wondering whether the Knicks could move him before the trade deadline. If Leon Rose follows the pattern he’s established since taking over in March 2020, though, that kind of move doesn’t sound like his style.
Rose has not been in the business of trading away pieces that make the roster worse. The clearest example came in December 2023, when the Knicks sent out RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley and got OG Anunoby back. That deal didn’t leave New York in a weaker spot.
McBride’s situation is different, but the pressure points are familiar. He’s been underpaid relative to what he has given the team, and his current deal, a three-year, $13 million contract, expires after this season. At 26, he has earned a raise.
The catch is the second apron. New York likely has to see what happens with Towns before it can figure out what it can afford for McBride. If Towns takes his $61 million player option for 2027-28 instead of agreeing to an extension, keeping McBride and staying under the second apron would become extremely difficult.
That’s where the bigger picture gets messy. If James Dolan continues to insist the Knicks remain below the second apron, McBride could end up being the odd man out.
Dolan has already shown he can shape the direction of the roster; the source of that power was on display when Tom Thibodeau was fired. Mike Brown then led the team to a title in his first year.
The Mitchell Robinson situation from this offseason only adds to the uncertainty. He was the previous longest-tenured Knick, and the team let him go because it did not want to cross the second apron. Still, there were no serious talks about trading him, and it’s possible Rose and the front office did not know Dolan would hold the line once the offseason started.
If they had been allowed to do so, the Knicks likely would have gone over the second apron to keep Robinson. McBride could present the same kind of decision next offseason.
And that matters because he has become a real part of the rotation. McBride has mostly come off the bench, but he’s also filled in as a starter, and his on/off splits across his career show that New York has generally been better when he’s on the floor.
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