Bruce Brown is still out there, and the Knicks keep popping up as a team worth watching.
That idea got another push last week when Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints named New York as a possible destination for the veteran guard, one of the more notable unrestricted free agents still on the market as September arrives. At first glance, it’s not the cleanest fit. The Knicks appear to need another big man more than another perimeter piece, especially with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond already up front.
New York does have two open roster spots, but only $3.3 million in cap space. That’s enough for just one veteran minimum player.
More room could be created by moving Pacome Dadiet, who has a $5.3 million option for 2027-28 that has to be decided on by October 31. There has also been talk for weeks about Leon Rose exploring a deal for a useful young center like Yves Missi or Moussa Diabate.
Even if that kind of move happens, it might not come right away. It could be pushed to the days before the season starts, or more likely to February and the trade deadline. And if a trade does end up costing Miles McBride and/or Tyler Kolek, Brown starts to look a lot more useful as a backup plan.
That’s because Brown brings exactly the kind of versatility teams can lean on when the games get tight. He can handle multiple roles, help as a secondary ball-handler, and handle the unglamorous work that doesn’t always show up in the box score.
He’s the classic glue guy, the kind of player who can still hold his own in pressure-filled playoff minutes. He’s even got some experience as a small-ball center.
Brown spent last season back in Denver after winning a championship with the Nuggets in 2023, signing there on a veteran’s minimum deal. In 82 games, the 30-year-old put up 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 24.4 minutes per night while shooting 38.5% from three-point range.
The market hasn’t moved much for him, though, and there’s a real chance he may have to settle for a non-guaranteed contract. With roster spots disappearing around the league, only the Toronto Raptors and Knicks have more than one opening. Sixteen teams have just a single spot available, and plenty of those clubs want to preserve flexibility and keep their finances clean.
A return to Denver looks unlikely after the Nuggets gave EuroLeague import Alpha Diallo Brown’s No. 11 during both of Brown’s stints there. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report also recently mentioned Brown as a Lakers possibility, but Los Angeles already has 16 players under contract.
The Knicks’ connection to Brown goes back a bit. They had interest in him before he signed with Indiana in the summer of 2023, and the feeling seemed to go both ways. That winter, while he was with the Raptors, Brown made it pretty clear he would have welcomed a move to New York in comments to Jared Schwartz of the New York Post.
“I am a dog," Brown said about the idea of playing for then Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau (h/t Jared Schwartz of the New York Post). "I play extremely hard on both ends of the floor. I can do just about whatever [Thibodeau] needs me to do."
"I love New York," said Brown, who spent two years in the Big Apple with the Nets. "I hated New York before I lived here, but as soon as I moved here, I loved it.
Anytime you want to do something you can go do it. Great restaurants, great city, I love being back."
Brown’s pull toward New York is real, and so is his desire to join a contender. He’s also a CAA client and has already made more than $60 million, which makes another minimum deal a realistic outcome even if he has to battle for a spot.
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The Knicks offseason business is not done, but one of the quieter questions on the roster has moved to the front burner. Deuce McBride established himself as a valuable rotation guard last season, averaging 12.0 points, 2.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 41 games, and his standing inside the organization has only grown as New York continues sorting out its future payroll and lineup decisions.
Stefan Bondy reported that the Knicks are unlikely to extend McBride, along with Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart, before the season begins, which leaves McBride in a more fluid spot than a dependable bench piece usually prefers. New York is still weighing whether to treat him as part of the long-term core or keep him in play as a possible trade asset once the season gets rolling, a choice that could come into focus faster than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Just Got A Lot More Pressure On Karl-Anthony Towns
Victor Wembanyamas new deal in San Antonio landed at 25 percent of the salary cap, a notable decision because he could have chased the 30 percent supermax after making an All-NBA Team. For the Knicks, that kind of number matters far beyond the Spurs, because every major contract on the books shapes how much flexibility the front office has when it starts mapping out the next few seasons.
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 🡒]
Former Knicks Champion Could Extend A Rare Streak In Philadelphia
Dillon Jones has a chance to keep an unusual run going after landing in Philadelphia, where his next stop comes with a roster built around LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey. For a player who has already been part of title teams, the setup is at least intriguing enough to warrant a closer look from Knicks fans who remember his place on the clubs 2026 championship roster.
Jones arrives after back-to-back championships, first with Oklahoma City in 2025 and then with New York the following year, a rare kind of rsum for a player still looking to carve out his next opportunity. The question now is whether that momentum carries into Philly and whether his new situation can turn a brief stop into something that keeps the streak alive. [Read more 🡒]