The New York Knicks are having a moment.
While the Houston Rockets understandably hogged summer offseason headlines early for their blockbuster trade acquisition of Kevin Durant and some great free agent signings, the Knicks have quietly enjoyed a superlative summer of team-building.
Ditching now-former head coach Tom Thibodeau following the club’s most successful postseason since Bill Clinton was president may have been a bit of a head-scratcher, but his replacement Mike Brown is a solid, seasoned choice who knows how to get the most out of an offense.
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New York signed free agents Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson to guaranteed deals to build out its bench. After adding guards Malcolm Brogdon, Landry Shamet and Garrison Mathews on training camp contracts, the Knicks seem prepared to offload some young cogs in service of holding onto the vets.
Per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post, the Knicks are possibly angling to free up a bit more cap real estate so they can retain at least two of Brogdon, Mathews and Shamet. But they’ll have to give up on some young guns to do that.
“The money the Knicks have to clear to create another veteran minimum slot is small (just north of $2.2 million), so really any player will suffice,” Bondy notes. “But trading a big contract is both difficult and silly, which leaves only three players that make sense — Pacome Dadiet, Tyler Kolek and Miles McBride. Of that trio, I’ve heard the most buzz about Dadiet and McBride.”
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McBride, 25, enjoyed his strongest individual season with the 51-31 Knicks in 2024-25. He averaged 9.5 points while slashing .406/.369/.813, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.0 steals in his 64 healthy games (10 starts).
He was the Knicks’ seventh man of the bench, although he saw his minutes slashed by Thibodeau as he tightened his playoff rotations a bit. The addition of Clarkson could bump him down a peg rotationally already, but if the Knicks also hold on to Brogdon and/or Shamet, McBride’s development could be further curtailed.
He went from averages of 24.9 minutes to 18.9 per in the playoffs, averaging 5.8 points on .378/.373/.824 shooting splits, 1.2 boards, and 1.0 dimes during New York’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals this past spring.
The 6-foot-2 West Virginia still has room to grow, but in a win-now environment that seems committed to shoring up its backcourt with more proven commodities, he may struggle to get that chance consistently.
Dadiet and Kolek were drafted just last year, but could also see their development paused with so many talented vets ahead of them in Brown’s rotations.
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