Miles McBride’s stock keeps climbing, and that may be exactly why the Knicks could end up moving him.
Bleacher Report recently slotted the New York guard as the fifth most underrated player in the NBA, a nod to the kind of two-way impact that’s made him hard to ignore. Zach Buckley pointed to McBride as a “scrappy” defender and praised the efficiency he’s brought on offense after last year’s career-best run, describing him as a “double-digit scorer with a 41.3 three-point percentage and better than a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.” Buckley also suggested that calling Deuce only a “valued member” of the Knicks might be “underselling” what he brings.
That kind of recognition is good news for McBride. It may also be a warning sign for New York.
The idea that he could be part of an in-season trade is starting to feel less far-fetched, especially when you factor in the Knicks’ roster math and the chatter that’s already followed him around the league. New York, the recently minted NBA champions, would obviously prefer to keep a player this productive. But the combination of his contract situation, the team’s future financial picture and his rising reputation has made him a natural name to watch.
That’s not a new conversation, either. The Athletic’s Bryce Simon recently said McBride is “the name that stands out to me” when discussing Knicks players who could be included as trade add-ons, while the New York Post’s Bryan Fonseca called him the “best trade chip” on the team’s bench.
The reason is pretty straightforward. The Knicks are about $6 million below the second apron for next season, and they currently have only 14 players under contract.
That cushion won’t last long once the looming extensions for Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart come into play, with Jalen Brunson’s deal also expected to matter next summer. Keeping the books clean is going to get harder, not easier.
That’s where McBride’s expiring contract comes in. If New York is going to protect its championship core for the long haul, it may have to trim costs somewhere along the way. Deuce could be the first place that pressure shows up.
And if national writers are already calling him one of the league’s most underrated players, rival front offices are almost certainly paying attention too. That only raises the price. It also makes it easier to imagine a scenario where McBride becomes too expensive for the Knicks to keep next offseason.
In Other News...
Andre Drummond Gives Knicks A Real Playoff Rotation Question
Andre Drummond is back in the kind of role that has followed him for much of his career, and the Knicks are betting that his size and physicality can steady the second unit. The one-year deal, worth about $3.9 million, gives New York a veteran backup center who can rebound, screen and protect the paint, filling the opening left by Mitchell Robinsons departure in free agency.
The regular season should offer plenty of chances for Drummond to carve out minutes, but the real question comes later, when the games tighten and matchups get more specific. His style is different from Robinsons, and that difference could matter most when the Knicks start sorting out who can stay on the floor in the late stages of playoff games. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Have Quietly Chosen Depth Over A Bigger Swing
The Knicks center picture kept shifting this week, and not in a way that points toward a splashy summer swing. New York had its offer sheet to restricted free agent Moussa Ciss matched by the Dallas Mavericks, cutting off one route to adding another big man after the club had already used one of its roster moves on Andre Drummond.
There was also the loss of Ariel Hukporti to the Philadelphia 76ers, who were able to top his minimum contract by $1 million. Taken together, the moves suggest the Knicks have been working the margins for frontcourt depth rather than clearing space for a major addition, even as the final roster spot has become part of a much bigger conversation around how aggressive they can still be. [Read more 🡒]