The Knicks didn’t get a Miles McBride extension done by Tuesday’s so-called soft deadline, but that doesn’t mean the door is closed.
Stefan Bondy of the New York Post has reported that a deal could still come together later, and the bigger twist is that even if McBride does sign an extension, New York may still have more flexibility with him than most people assume.
The common belief is that veteran extensions come with a six-month trade restriction that would effectively keep the guard in New York for at least another season. But under the CBA, there are specific conditions that could allow the Knicks to work around that.
For that to happen, the extension would have to stay within a very narrow lane. It can’t run more than three additional seasons beyond the 2026-27 campaign.
McBride’s salary also can’t rise or fall by more than 5.0 percent per year. And the new deal can’t be worth more than 120 percent of the league’s median salary.
That matters because McBride, 25, is eligible for as many as four years on his next contract, which complicates the negotiation picture. Still, if those rules are satisfied, New York could potentially sign him and later use him as a trade chip during the season.
That possibility looms especially large because McBride is viewed as one of the Knicks’ most valuable pieces in the second unit and a player who could help them address their center depth.
New York’s current center situation is thin. Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond are the only two options in the pivot right now, and Leon Rose and the front office are believed to want at least one more body in that mix.
The Knicks could still look at the free-agent market, but SNY’s Ian Begley recently said, "if they wanted to sign one of these centers on a guaranteed one-year deal, the Knicks would have done so already."
That makes the trade route look like the more likely path, and McBride’s value gives New York a potential way to get there. He has been described as the best trade chip in the second unit and even as the fifth most underrated player in the NBA right now, which is exactly the kind of profile that can matter when the February deadline gets closer.
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The bigger takeaway is how quickly the conversation around a championship can turn from champagne to accountability. Brunson said the timing of moving on from the celebration was part of the mindset shift, and for a Knicks team trying to defend what it just won, that tone matters. The title is in the books, but the harder part is keeping everyone locked in on the grind that follows, and Brunson has already started framing that message for the roster. [Read more 🡒]
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Sims availability gives New York a potential short-term answer at a position that remains unsettled, but the path to getting him is not especially complicated. A deal centered on Pacme Dadiet has been floated as the most realistic framework, which would make this less about a splash and more about whether the Knicks want to sacrifice a young asset for a stopgap center who already knows the organization. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Title Defense Just Ran Into The NBAs Newest Problem
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Andre Drummond is now in the mix to help absorb those minutes, but the expectation is clear enough: he is there to steady things, not to duplicate what Robinson brought. And the same CBA pressures that shaped New Yorks offseason were part of the larger conversation around Russell Westbrooks retirement, a reminder that the leagues new rules are changing more than just payroll spreadsheets. For the Knicks, the challenge is no longer just celebrating a title, but figuring out how to defend it with less margin for error than before. [Read more 🡒]