The Knicks are heading into camp with one of their cleaner-looking roster questions still hanging in the air: what, exactly, do they want to do with Deuce McBride?
For now, the answer appears to be patience. Stefan Bondy reported that New York is unlikely to extend McBride, Karl-Anthony Towns, or Josh Hart before the season, which puts the focus squarely on McBride and what he means to the team going forward.
This is not a fringe player the Knicks can simply ignore. McBride put up 12.0 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 41 games last season, and that kind of production makes him a real part of the conversation, not just a name buried at the end of the roster.
The Knicks also know what they have in him. McBride can help a contender now, and he fits the profile of a player that other teams will always circle: a guard who competes, defends, and can score in bursts. That combination travels well in the league.
At the same time, there’s no reason to treat him like a disposable piece. The Knicks won a title with him in the mix, and there’s obvious value in keeping someone who already understands how to function alongside the bigger names.
That’s why waiting can make sense. If the front office wants a better read after the first few months of the season, fine. But that approach also means every phone call from another team turns into a real decision about a useful rotation guard.
So the issue is bigger than a contract number. New York has to figure out whether McBride is part of the long-term picture or the kind of asset who could be moved to bring back the next piece of it.
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Karl-Anthony Towns now sits at the center of that math in New York. The Knicks may end up negotiating with a player who has plenty of leverage and a future payday in mind, even as the team tries to preserve room for other key pieces, and the cap squeeze around Towns is only getting harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
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Knicks Face A Roster Dilemma They Can't Solve With Sentiment
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But this is also the kind of roster spot where sentiment can steer a team the wrong way. Gibson has been a dependable end-of-bench presence in past Knicks stints, yet the argument here is that New York should use those final openings on younger players or more upside rather than leaning on a known face for the sake of comfort. [Read more 🡒]