Miles McBride has gone from an early-season question mark to one of the Knicks’ better problems.
That wasn’t the case out of the gate. Through five games, McBride was putting up just 6.4 points per game, hitting 35.7% from the field and logging an oddly light 17.6 minutes a night. The production lagged, the minutes lagged, and yet he was still helping the Knicks win in plenty of stretches without getting the kind of run that usually follows.
Now the script looks different.
Over the Knicks’ last six games, McBride has averaged 9.2 points while shooting 51.3% overall and 46.7% from three, all while getting 20 minutes per game. That’s still below the 26.3 minutes he averaged last season, and it’s still not the workload plenty of Knicks fans would prefer. But after the way the first two weeks went, getting back to the 20-minute range says plenty about how the team is feeling about him right now.
The tricky part for Mike Brown is that McBride’s rise comes in the middle of a crowded, messy rotation battle. McBride has generally outplayed Mikal Bridges, who has had a rough stretch, but Brown still needs Bridges to find his footing if the Knicks are going to repeat as champions.
Josh Hart brings obvious flaws, especially in the starting group, but he remains a key piece of the roster. Then there’s Landry Shamet, who enters Thursday with the team’s highest plus-minus and is backing up the strong season he had last year as an unsung hero.
So if McBride’s minutes climb, someone else has to give. That’s the reality. And it’s not nearly as simple when you’re the one making the call instead of the one yelling for it from the couch.
Even so, this is the kind of issue the Knicks would rather have. If McBride had kept struggling, the front office might have had an easier time swallowing the idea of moving him and selling that decision to the fan base. Instead, his shot has come back, his value has climbed, and the Knicks now have more ways to sort out the backcourt mix.
That also makes any trade conversation more complicated. Sentimentally, it gets harder to part with him.
Practically, it gets easier to justify a bigger return. A stronger McBride only raises the chance the Knicks could turn him into a wing or center who can actually help in the postseason.
The longer this version of McBride sticks around, the tougher these choices become for Leon Rose and Brown. But the Knicks need him either way.
If he stays, he has to matter in a real playoff run. If he goes before the offseason, his improved play should only improve the return.
In Other News...
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For New York, the move adds another name worth monitoring in the organizations development pipeline. Westchester has become a useful landing spot for players trying to rebuild momentum, and Dillingham arrives with the kind of talent that can make a G League stint more than just a placeholder. The next step will depend on the waiver process, but the broader picture is clear enough: the Knicks are taking a low-risk swing on a player whose long-term appeal still has plenty of believers. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Could Benefit From A Bucks Problem No One Saw Coming
Milwaukees offseason suddenly has a cloud hanging over it, and for the Knicks, that kind of uncertainty can create opportunity. The Bucks are reportedly under investigation for cap circumvention tied to Gary Trent Jr., with league insiders expecting a guilty finding that could cost them future draft picks. If that happens, the ripple effect could be bigger than any single punishment, especially if Milwaukee is pushed into a more cautious posture with its roster.
For New York, the appeal is obvious: a team that may need to reset could put useful frontcourt pieces on the market, and names like Jericho Sims and Kelel Ware would fit the kind of depth the Knicks are always hunting for. The question is what it would take to get involved, with Tyler Kolek or Miles McBride among the kinds of players New York could dangle if the Bucks decide to listen. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Be Sending A Bigger Message With Jordan Clarkson
Jordan Clarkson has quietly become one of the more interesting pieces in the Knicks early-season puzzle. He has appeared in nine of the teams first 10 games and, even as New York has gone through its share of mixed results, he has yet to post a negative plus-minus in any outing. For a roster still sorting out roles under Mike Brown, that kind of steady presence has made Clarkson worth watching beyond the usual scoring flash.
Browns handling of Clarksons minutes has also hinted at something bigger than a simple bench-scoring arrangement. The veteran guards versatility gives the Knicks another way to piece together lineups, and it comes at a time when the roster could still be in flux around both the backcourt and the front line. With trade chatter always hovering around guards and big men, Clarksons early usage may be telling us as much about the teams long-term thinking as it does about his own fit. [Read more 🡒]