Appreciating the continued rise of Deuce McBride

For casual NBA fans, seeing an unknown Miles McBride randomly score 29 points against the Golden State Warriors on national television must feel like an aberration, one that causes you to wonder what kind of fever dream you’re in. For Knicks fans though, it was much less surprising. That isn’t to say that New York Knicks fans were expecting the former West Virginia Mountaineer to go out and outscore Steph Curry last night. That would take an asinine level of belief in McBride, and or an irrational disrespect of Curry. But McBride has quickly become a consistent and reliable part of this team’s rotation, and as Josh Wiesel noted on here not too long ago, he’s stepped up in a major way.

The season hasn’t been all bright spots for the third-year guard though. Much like his first two seasons in the NBA, McBride spent a good portion of the first couple months barely playing. Buried on the bench as the third-string point guard behind eventual All-Star Jalen Brunson and the reigning Sixth Man of the Year runner-up, Immanuel Quickley, McBride averaged just 2PPG in 5.6MPG in the first 34 games of the season. But in January, soon after the Knicks traded away the aforementioned Quickley, McBride was suddenly thrust into a significantly larger role. And he almost immediately made an impact.

From January 5th to the 15th, McBride averaged 13.3 PPG and 2.7 APG in 22.2 MPG, while shooting 49.2% from the field and 50% from three. He did come back down to earth though, as he averaged just 6.1PPG in 12.5MPG over the next eight games. Since then though, it’s been much more of the good than the bad for the backup point guard. In his last 20 games, he’s averaging 10.4 PPG, 2.1 APG, and 1 SPG, in 25.5 MPG, while shooting 44.3% from the field and 37.4% from three. And arguably just as good and important as his stats, is his availability, which is often referred to, as the best ability. McBride has yet to miss a game in 2024 and has played 40+ minutes five times, which includes his heroic 47-minute performance off the bench against the Cavaliers when Brunson had to leave the game early with a leg injury.

Deuce, as he’s often called, does still struggle from time to time. Over his last 16 games, he’s scored eight or fewer points in eight of those games. And like a lot of players on this team, he has his flaws. He’s a subpar playmaker at this point in his career, who can struggle when he’s asked to consistently get his own shot or make plays for others, and despite being a great defender, his height can limit his impact on that end of the floor against tall wing players. That being said, McBride’s ability to be a relentless hound defensively while turning into a 41.6% three-point shooter has made him an incredibly valuable player.

The funny part is, there are plenty of other players out there who were thought to be better backup point guards, including the Knicks’ very own Alec Burks. And as recently as a few weeks ago, I questioned if McBride could play playoff minutes but it’s becoming overwhelmingly clear that he’s earned the right to be on the court come postseason time. Now, how much and how long he’ll play is a discussion worth having, but I think that has more to do with the opponent and the matchup than it does McBride and his ability.

But in a season that has been filled with ups and downs, injuries, and trades, Knicks fans should be grateful to have a homegrown player who has been healthy, stable, and producing, and doing so on what is yet another team-friendly contract that this front office was able to secure.