The Knicks do not need to treat Deuce McBride like a name they’re already preparing to move. If anything, they should be thinking about how to make him more valuable before that decision ever comes due.
That’s where an extension comes in.
There’s been some noise around the idea that once McBride signs a new deal, the Knicks lose the ability to trade him because of the six-month restriction on veteran extensions. But that’s not the full picture. New York can still extend him and move him before the Feb. 11 trade deadline as long as the deal stays within a specific lane: no longer than three additional years, a starting salary below 120 percent of the estimated average salary in 2027-28, and salary increases or decreases that don’t go beyond 5 percent in either direction.
If the Knicks can get McBride on a contract that fits those rules, it could improve his market value right away.
The reason is simple: teams hate uncertainty. Right now, any club that trades for McBride would get one season with him before he hits free agency.
If New York moved him midseason, that window would shrink even further. That kind of timeline gives suitors leverage in talks, because they can push the idea that he’s a rental and use that to chip away at the return.
And even if a buyer isn’t worried about McBride bolting immediately, there’s still the matter of what comes next. Nobody knows exactly what he would cost after that. A team can hope he lands at a friendly number, but that’s just a guess.
An extension wipes out that problem. If McBride is under contract for two or three more years beyond 2026-27, a new team knows exactly what it is getting. That doesn’t guarantee New York a premium draft pick or a clean trade package, but it gives the Knicks something they don’t have now: leverage.
The good news for New York is that this does not sound like a complicated extension to make happen.
If McBride were suddenly pushing for more than $20 million a year, the whole thing would get messy fast. But that kind of payday doesn’t fit the market for this type of player. Small guards who can’t run an offense usually aren’t landing massive deals, and McBride is not likely to come anywhere near the league’s estimated average player salary in 2027-28, which is $15.8 million.
That makes a workable deal easy to imagine. A three-year, $36 million extension that pays him $12 million per season would fit the extend-and-trade rules and still look reasonable to another team. It’s the kind of number that would be viewed as team-friendly, not inflated.
Put yourself in another front office’s shoes. Would you rather trade for McBride with one year and $4 million left, or with four years and $40 million remaining?
Seen that way, the Knicks should welcome the chance to extend their homegrown guard. If they can’t move him this season, a deal at that number would still leave him plenty tradeable next summer. And if the front office likes what it sees enough, maybe the bigger outcome is that they decide not to trade him at all.
In Other News...
Knicks May Have Finally Found A Way To Ease Jalen Brunsons Burden
Jalen Brunson has carried a massive share of the Knicks offense since arriving in 2022, and that workload has been one of the defining facts of his time in New York. The challenge for the Knicks has been simple enough to state and hard enough to solve: how do you keep their primary creator fresh without stripping away the control he gives the half-court attack?
The recent playoffs offered a potential answer, with Karl-Anthony Towns helping to shoulder more of the offensive initiation and giving Brunson more chances to work off the ball. That shift let Brunson score more from spot-ups and other off-ball situations, and it gave New York a useful blueprint for easing his burden heading into next season without needing to remake the roster. [Read more 🡒]
OG Anunoby Made One Thing Clear After The Knicks Title Run
The Knicks championship run ended with the kind of signature moment teams remember for years, and OG Anunoby provided it when New York stormed back from a 29-point hole to take Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals on his game-winning put-back. A night later, the Knicks finished the job in Game 5 and closed out the San Antonio Spurs in five games, leaving the franchise with its first title in a long while and Anunoby at the center of one of the defining plays of the postseason.
As much as he is still taking in what the run meant, Anunoby has already made his next priority clear: getting ready for the season ahead. For a Knicks team that just reached the mountaintop, that mindset matters, because the celebration can fade quickly once the target shifts from winning the championship to trying to stay there. [Read more 🡒]