The Nix decree from the property to stay under the second apron followed by their movement to a pause extended negotiations for his players, created the impression that the backup guard Miles McBride could be the odd man out if the team looks for a backup center on the trade market.
However, McBride’s play over the past few weeks could change that as he looks more and more like a potentially integral part of the Knicks’ next playoff run. Jared Schwartz writes for the New York Post.
McBride is averaging 9.2 points on .513/.467/.1000 shooting over his last six contests going into the Knicks’ NBA Cup game against the Pacers on Friday, and his ability to knock down contested threes has been a valuable weapon for New York, a team that takes some of the most shots on the shot clock of any team in the league.
His playing time has increased as a result of his strong play on both ends, and he appears to have the trust of the head coach Mike Brown.
Without an extension next summer, McBride will be a free agent.
We’ve got more from Nicks:
- Mikal BridgesThe difficulty of the start of the season has been widely discussed and the defensive winger is well aware of how disappointing his performance has been. He said several times before Friday’s game that he needed to “look in the mirror” to figure out what was going wrong. “When times get tough, you just have to admit it and be the best you can be,” he said, per Fred Katz of The Athletic (Link to Twitter). While the Knicks lost to the Indians, Bridges had his best game of the season, scoring 18 points and making two of four threes.
- Amidst the Knicks’ disappointing start, there was one bright spot Karl-Anthony Townswho is playing the best basketball of his career. He continued his strong play on Friday. Despite missing a potential tying shot after the buzzer, Towns finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three three-pointers. In doing so, he surpassed Willis Reed for the longest double-double streak to start a season in franchise history with 12, the Knicks announced (via Twitter).
- The Westchester Knicks have acquired a former lottery pick Rob Dillingham in a trade with the Iowa Wolves, which was somewhat expected, according to The Stein Line’s Jake Fisher (via Twitter). Dillingham was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 draft by the Wolves, who traded him to the Bulls last season Ayo Dosunmu trade.
