For much of his tenure with the New York Knicks, Miles McBride has been outside the normal rotation. This season, he played in 18 of the team’s first 31 games. In only two of those outings did McBride see his minutes reach double figures.
As a rookie, McBride played just 9.3 minutes on average in his 40 games. Last season, the minutes slightly increased to an average of 11.9 in 64 outings.
It’s safe to say that McBride and his playing time have come a long way since then. On Saturday afternoon, the Knicks defeated the Brooklyn Nets by the score of 105-93. What pops out most in that box score is that McBride played the entire 48 minutes without being subbed out.
Second Knicks Player in Six Days Plays Entire 48 Minute Game
McBride Becomes Second NBA Player to Not be Subbed Out This Season
Prior to New York’s game against the Golden State Warriors last Monday, no player this season had played the entire game. Now it has been done twice, both times by a member of the Knicks.
On March 18, the Knicks defeated Golden State by the final score of 119-112. There is a similarity with that box score when compared with the Nets box score. Starting forward Josh Hart played all 48 minutes. He finished with his fifth triple-double of the season totaling 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Now in his third season, McBride was also impactful in New York’s win over their cross-state rival. The 23-year-old McBride connected on six three-pointers against the Nets scoring 26 total points. Donte DiVincenzo led the way with 31 points.
With OG Anunoby again being sidelined due to an elbow ailment, McBride has been inserted into the starting lineup to share the backcourt with star Jalen Brunson. In the last three games, McBride has played 143 of a possible 148 minutes.
McBride Has Overtaken Burks in Pecking Order
When the Knicks traded RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley for Anunoby (and Precious Achiuwa), a path to playing time was there for McBride. The backup point guard minutes were available with Quickley being traded.
Many believed that path was somewhat closed once the Knicks traded for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. It is Burks’ second tenure with New York, and he was used as a lead ball-handler by the team before.
It hasn’t gone well for either of the two though since joining the Knicks. Burks has played 18 games thus far for New York this season. He is shooting an atrocious 32.0% from the field and just 30.3% from three-point territory. After playing more than 20 minutes in two of his first three games with New York, he has reached that total just once in his last 15 outings.
McBride Agreed to Under-Market Extension
On December 30, 2023, Miles McBride and the team agreed to a three-year, $13 million extension. Prior to the deal, he was scheduled to become a free agent after the season.
The extension already has proven to be of excellent value for the Knicks. The agreement was made when McBride was still a fringe rotation player. Now New York has a high-level rotation player locked up at a very low rate until 2026-27.
