Newest Miles McBride Buzz Shows There's Still Hope for Knicks Future

Don’t shut the door on Miles McBride remaining with the New York Knicks long-term just yet.

McBride is one of three Knicks rotation players eligible for an extension, but he is the only one on an expiring contract. That puts a little more pressure on the Knicks to get a deal done or trade the 26-year-old backup guard, lest they risk losing him for nothing in free agency.

However, with Karl-Anthony Towns also due for an extension (one that figures to come in around $200 million, if not more) and Josh Hart also due for an extension, and the directive from team owner James Dolan to duck the second apron, it seemed as if McBride could be the odd-man out for a deal.

While a deal isn’t done, as there hasn't been much reporting on a potential deal, Thursday provided a couple of updates that could be seen as encouraging for the Knicks to keep a key member of their rotation.

Mike Brown wants McBride back

While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Knicks head coach Mike Brown said that he would like to see McBride retained, adding that he trusts the front office to get something done.

“He wants to be here, we want him to be here,” Brown said (h/t SNY Knicks on Twitter). “That's something that I have faith in Leon and even Deuce's representatives to figure that out."

Brown acknowledged that the Knicks have a lot of “moving parts” as far as salary-cap math to figure out.

"He wants to be here, we want him to be here. That's something that I have faith in Leon and even Deuce's representatives to figure that out."

Mike Brown talks about the potential for a Miles McBride contract extension: pic.twitter.com/ICRYVZSeDo
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) September 30, 2026

Obviously, there is a political angle to Brown’s comments — Brown couldn’t say he doesn’t want McBride back — but mentioning team president Leon Rose by name as part of the answer adds a little more weight to the statement.

Brown, for his part, knows how valuable McBride can be. It’s easy to forget now, after McBride missed a lot of time recovering from sports hernia surgery in the regular season and saw his minutes shrink in the postseason. But McBride averaged almost 27 minutes per game last season, sixth on the Knicks.

McBride is healthy again

On Wednesday, McBride told reporters that he was far from healthy during last year’s postseason and was more impacted by the sports hernia recovery than he let on.

“I'm feeling a lot better,” McBride said (h/t SNY Knicks on Twitter). “It's kind of crazy thinking about how unhealthy I was playing through that playoff run.”

McBride said his injury was more “complex” than just a sports hernia and that “sports hernia” was the simple medical term to describe it.

McBride also told reporters that his recovery constantly impacted his core and that by the Finals, it was tough to keep up with the Spurs' young guards.

"I'm feeling a lot better. It's kind of crazy thinking about how unhealthy I was playing through that playoff run"

Miles McBride talks about his health coming into the season and says his injury last year was more complex than just calling it a sports hernia: pic.twitter.com/1q4xAIFh9m
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) September 30, 2026

McBride’s play was certainly impacted in the postseason. While he had some excellent moments — like his seven three-pointers in Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round — he struggled in the playoffs. His field goal percentage fell to just 33%, and he shot 37.5% from three, down from 41% in the regular season. As a result, McBride averaged just 17 minutes per game in the playoffs and just 13 per game in the Finals.

McBride’s self-diagnosis could be seen as a positive, however. McBride is now healthy and could assume the form he showed in the first half of the 2025-26 season. In fact, any worries about McBride's ability to be an impact player in the game’s biggest moments could be explained by the health struggles. And as a bonus, McBride’s value might be low enough now that the Knicks could sign him to a more favorable extension, rather than letting him build his value back up during the regular season.

What would McBride’s extension look like?

McBride is due for a big raise.

Currently, McBride is on one of the league’s best value deals: a three-year, $13 million deal that pays him just $3.9 million this season.

It would not be fair for the Knicks to ask him to take another super team-friendly deal. But just how big of a raise is McBride due for?

There are a few other guards who signed recent deals that can be compared to McBride:

Ayo Dosunmu: 5 years, $112 million – $22.4 million AAV
Coby White: 3 years, $74 million – $24.6 million AAV
Gary Trent Jr.: 4 years, $64 million – $16 million AAV
Quentin Grimes: 4 years, $60 million – $15 million AAV
Collin Gillepsie: 4 years, $48 million – $12 million AAV
Kevin Huerter: 3 years, $27 million – $9 million AAV

McBride isn't exactly like all these players, and we see a wide range in the annual average value among those deals. However, the guards above could generally be considered in the same class as McBride, and the numbers show McBride should probably be making somewhere between $10 and 20 million annually on his next deal.

However, a few things are working against McBride. He doesn’t have the raw production of some of the guards above, as he has never averaged double-digit points per game. McBride also hasn’t developed a reliable enough handle to be a full-time backup point guard, and his size limits him from guarding most opposing wings. McBride is a combo guard through and through.

Based on this, it seems fair for McBride to expect a deal that pays him between $10 and $15 million annually. Could a four-year, $52 million extension ($13 million average) be the sweet spot?

Of course, it’s worth noting that the Knicks are not necessarily prohibited from paying McBride what he wants: the Knicks can pay Towns, Hart, and McBride fair deals and exceed the second apron in doing so. They would only be limited in their transactions afterward. Dolan has said the Knicks should not exceed the second apron.

If the Knicks insist on staying below the second apron, then they’ll have a complicated path forward to keeping their top six players together. But there seems to be enough positive feelings to keep McBride in the mix.

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