Even after Thursday night’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets, the Knicks have remained one of the hottest teams in the league over the last couple of months. Thankfully, that has helped distract some fans from focusing too much on the absence of backup guard Deuce McBride, who has been out since January with a sports hernia injury. Thanks in large part to Jose Alvarado, Mo Diawara, and the surprising resurgence of Jordan Clarkson, New York has managed sans McBride and has not missed him quite as much as expected.
Don’t get it twisted, though, if the Knicks want to reach their ultimate goal, McBride will play a pivotal role. And reports suggest that he is nearing a return.
Ian Begley of SNY reported Saturday that McBride “remains on track to return to the court during the current road trip” and added that we could even see him make an appearance Sunday.
“Some good news for Knicks after bad loss in CHA: Miles McBride remains on track to return to the court during the current road trip, possibly as soon as Sunday. McBride was ruled out of CHA game on Friday a day before tipoff; Sunday’s game vs OKC has not yet been ruled out for him, per SNY sources. McBride is rehabbing from surgery to repair a sports hernia and has been out since Jan. 28.” — SNY’s Ian Begley
As of Sunday morning, he remains listed as questionable for today’s clash against the Thunder, but considering there was a chance he’d be out until the playoffs, this is a great sign pointing towards him having more time to re-acclimate than previously believed.
The interesting piece to this puzzle becomes the rotation. With teams shrinking their rotations during the playoffs to eight or nine players, Clarkson, Diawara, Landry Shamet, and Alvarado won’t all be in the rotation.
Diawara provides some much-needed athleticism and size on the wings, Clarkson provides experience, ball-handling, and self-creation, Shamet provides some much-needed shooting and defense, and Alvarado provides toughness and ball-handling. All of them have clear lanes to earning minutes, but most of them also have weaknesses as well.
Playing Alvarado and McBride may leave the backcourt too small against certain teams. Clarkson’s defense has been much improved lately, but he can still have his limitations on that end of the floor. Shamet has been one of the unheralded and unexpected saviors of the 2025-26 season, but he had fallen into a bit of a shooting slump prior to his recent injury. And then there’s Diawara, who has quickly turned into a fan favorite but is still prone to making rookie mistakes.
Looking at Mike Brown’s tendencies throughout the year, I’d assume it’s Clarkson and Shamet who get the first nod, with Diawara maybe getting spot minutes depending on the matchup. Brown has not shied away from changing up his second unit, though, so expect it to be a very fluid situation during the playoffs, where things can always change on a whim.
