McBride’s Hot Shooting Creates a Knicks Rotation Dilemma

After a slow start to the season, guard Miles McBride has found his shooting touch, giving the Knicks more options—and a harder choice over how to divide minutes among their guards and wings.

Through his first five games, McBride averaged 6.4 points while making 35.7% of his field-goal attempts. He played 17.6 minutes per game. In the Knicks’ next six, he averaged 9.2 points and shot 51.3% overall, including 46.7% from three-point range, while playing 20 minutes per game.

That remains below the 26.3 minutes he averaged last season, but his increased role comes amid competition for playing time. Mikal Bridges has struggled, though the Knicks need him to find his form. Josh Hart remains important to the team, and Landry Shamet entered Thursday with the team’s highest plus-minus.

Giving McBride more time could mean reducing the role of one of those players. His recent form also complicates any decision by the Knicks to trade him: keeping him could give the team an important contributor for a postseason run, while trading him could bring a better return than it would have during his shooting slump. Leon Rose and Brown will have to weigh those possibilities as McBride’s play continues.