Miles McBride easily had one of the weirdest and most confusing seasons last season. Going into the 2024-25 campaign, McBride’s name shone through as a beacon of hope for fans. And for very good reason. After seeing the young guard flourish with more playing time after the OG Anunoby trade that saw both RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley depart, fans were excited to see the kinds of improvement the former West Virginia Mountaineer could showcase. And those hopes were only magnified with the Knicks’
offseason moves that left room for McBride’s potential move into the starting lineup. I mean, let’s remember, a lot of us had him as a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
What we got instead was a season filled with inconsistent shooting, subpar finishing around the rim, and playmaking that had fans wanting more and wondering what happened during his offseason. He shot 36.9% from three despite shooting 41% from deep the season prior. His handle and passing weren’t bad per se as he did average 4.2 assists per 36 minutes, but they also weren’t great. And he finished the season with the eighth worst field goal percentage (47.4%) on shots within five feet from the rim among players who took more than 20 shots from that distance, while also finishing with the 11th worst field goal percentage (28.6%) on shots from 5-9 feet out. But “how was his season weird or confusing if he was just downright disappointing?” you may ask.
Despite his ups and downs, McBride remained a mainstay on many of the Knicks’ best lineups. In fact, he was on six of the team’s top seven lineups when sorted by net rating. And that pinpoints exactly why McBride remains valuable and a popular player. Even when McBride isn’t hitting shots, can’t finish at the rim, and or make plays for others, he does more good for the team than bad. And sometimes, that’s all that matters.
He is an elite defender who is still the Knicks’ best point of attack defender, and the one most equipped to handle the high screen and rolls that today’s game is filled with. And his shooting ability and willingness to let it fly ensure that defenses have to account for him much more than Josh Hart, which makes him a perfect fit for Jalen Brunson and the rest of the starting lineup.
Going into this season, fans are likely a bit more wary of expecting such significant leaps. They’re probably no longer expecting him to be in the running for any awards. They aren’t thinking that he’ll suddenly become a playmaker capable of creating shots for himself or for others on a consistent basis. And they won’t go into the season believing he is going to put up eye-popping stats. But fans can, and should, 100% still be excited about McBride and the undoubtedly positive impact he has on the team every second he is on the floor.
There are still questions surrounding how Mike Brown will utilize him. In fact, that may be one of the biggest talking points heading into training camp and the preseason. Brown stayed away from playing too many double big lineups in Sacramento, so Mitchell Robinson may start off on the bench. But we also saw Brown give Keon Ellis, another incredible defensive guard who always had a positive impact on the Kings, the short end of the stick last season.
If Brown does the smart thing, listens to what the data says, and plays McBride as much as possible, he will once again be a net positive on this team. And that is regardless of whether he starts or not, and regardless of how well he is shooting. Obviously, it’d be nice to see him make the kind of adjustments necessary to become more of an offensive threat in his fifth season.
If the 24-year-old (turns 25 on September 8th) can improve even marginally as a playmaker and become a more efficient finisher around the rim, it would do wonders for him and the team. Is that what I expect, though? Not necessarily. I think McBride plays a lot. I think he’ll have more chances to play with the starters regardless of whether he starts or not. I also think that we’ll see some positive regression from his three-point shooting. I expect some improvements in other parts of his game. And I expect him to be one of the team leaders in net rating again. But I do also think that there are limitations to just how good he can become.
I don’t think he ever becomes a great finisher. And I don’t think he ever turns into a consistently good playmaker. And sadly, he may be closer to reaching his full potential or ceiling that we may have initially thought, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because he’s already an incredibly valuable and productive player on a very good team. I hope I’m proven wrong eventually. Shoot, I hope I’m proven wrong this season.
But just know that even if McBride doesn’t prove me wrong, or never reaches the heights we expected from him just 12 months ago, he will be productive and be an important part of this team for as long as he’s here. How long does that end up being, though? That may be the biggest question of them all.
