{"id":357647,"date":"2026-09-26T16:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/357647\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T16:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T16:00:11","slug":"disappointed-miles-mcbride-hopes-to-reach-agreement-with-knicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/357647\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Disappointed’ Miles McBride hopes to reach agreement with Knicks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Debbie Tavares barged into her daughter\u2019s room.<\/p>\n

It was 8:00 on Friday morning when the lifelong Knicks fan and 55-year-old Brooklyn native-turned Staten Island resident learned McBride, her favorite player on last year\u2019s roster, would be making an appearance at the local Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods on Richmond Avenue for a meet and greet later that evening.<\/p>\n

Excited, Tavares shouted \u201cDeuce!\u201d when she entered her daughter\u2019s room.<\/p>\n

The response?<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, no. I\u2019m so sorry,\u201d Tavares recalled. \u201c[My daughter] thought he had gotten traded. I was like, \u2018No, not that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the unfortunate state of affairs for McBride, a key member of last year\u2019s championship squad who is up for a contract extension entering the final season of his three-year deal, meeting the ugly side of the business of basketball: The Knicks are facing a mandate not to encroach the punitive $222 million second apron. As a result, they are forced to make tough decisions regarding the core of the roster responsible for ending New York City\u2019s 53-year NBA championship drought<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A team over the second apron loses its own toolbox: no taxpayer mid-level exception, no sign-and-trade, no aggregating two contracts into one incoming deal, no matching more than the outgoing salary in a trade \u2014 and if it\u2019s a repeat offender, over the line in three of five seasons, its first-round pick seven years out gets frozen at the bottom of the draft and can\u2019t be traded at all.<\/p>\n

Four days after the Knicks brought a title home, James Dolan went on WFAN Radio and reiterated exceeding Apron No. 2 was a no-go.<\/p>\n

And just like that, the dominos began to fall. The first?<\/p>\n

Mitchell Robinson, who signed with the Boston Celtics<\/a> for what amounted to a 5.3% raise: a three-year, $47.4 million deal the Knicks couldn\u2019t feasibly match while keeping the roster intact and staying under the mark.<\/p>\n

The second domino?<\/p>\n

The elephant was in a small room, still signing Knicks gear, this time for NYPD officers and store staff well after his scheduled appearance ran over its time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love being in New York. Obviously, I\u2019ve been here my whole career,\u201d McBride told the Daily News on Friday. \u201cI\u2019m a little \u2014 I\u2019m a little disappointed. Of course, you want to obviously come to the right terms, and I want to be in New York. So yeah, it\u2019s a little hard at times, but I\u2019m gonna be a professional. I want to go out and do my job. So that\u2019s in my ability, and to help the team win for as long as I\u2019m with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cold truth? McBride\u2019s time in New York, like the players who came before him, may already have an expiration date.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d cry [if the Knicks lost Deuce]. I\u2019d cry as much as I did when they won,\u201d said Tavares. \u201cI think for him, I think I would take it a lot harder than I took Mitch, just because I feel like he\u2019s the heart and soul of that bench. As much as I love Mitch, he was always hurt, so he wasn\u2019t like as consistent as Deuce is.<\/p>\n

\"Knicks<\/p>\n

Kristian Winfield\/New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Knicks fan Debbie Tavares attends a meet-and-greet with Knicks guard Miles McBride on Friday. (Kristian Winfield\/New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then Deuce started off great last year and was really about to have a career year, and he then got hurt. So I\u2019d love to see him do that this year as a Knick.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no need to worry about Deuce\u2019s jump shot entering a contract year. Three days ahead of training camp at the Knicks\u2019 training facility in Tarrytown on Monday, McBride\u2019s shooting hand was already on fire.<\/p>\n

A sea of rabid Knicks fans gathered in the face of an imminent nor\u2019easter ahead of the star guard\u2019s arrival in Staten Island on Friday, and every one of them got what they were looking for: a fist bump, a smile, a photo and an autographed poster with one of the first players off of New York\u2019s championship bench.<\/p>\n

Most in attendance wore generic Knicks gear or Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns jerseys. The real Deuce fans were easy to spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been to Staten Island, so it was cool to come out here and see the fans,\u201d McBride told The News. \u201cThey were excited. So I\u2019m happy: everyone got to see me and I got to see everybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think of myself as a crazy celebrity like that. I just get to work hard and do something I love. So to see how people enjoy what I do is definitely something cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Kuruvilla was one of the first, a 39-year-old New York native and lifelong Knicks fan whose T-shirt featuring McBride shooting a jumper immediately stood out. Kuruvilla also had a McBride jersey draped over his left shoulder.<\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/p>\n

Kristian Winfield\/New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Alex Kuruvilla sports a ‘Deuce’ McBride T-shirt as he attends a meet-and-greet with the Knick fan favorite on Friday. (Kristian Winfield\/New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cDeuce is my wife\u2019s favorite player and one of my top favorite players on the team,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like he\u2019s a key component to the team, and I hope he\u2019s here for the future, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local NYPD officers counted 500 fans an hour before McBride\u2019s scheduled 6 p.m. start \u2014 a start delayed by unfathomable rush-hour traffic across the Verrazzano Bridge. He was supposed to leave at 7:30. He stayed until 8. Every fan who came to see him left with a smile, a photo, and a story \u2014 and he hung around with the NYPD after, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a man of the people,\u201d said Kuruvilla. \u201cThere was crazy traffic and [a storm coming], so the fact that he still came through and did this for everybody, it means a lot to the fans. He was stuck in traffic for like an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

All the while, McBride was itching for something more: an opportunity to show these same fans how much he can improve as a player since last season, a year that started off scorching from deep before a sports hernia requiring core muscle surgery<\/a> derailed his hot start.<\/p>\n

He knows the odds are against him, much like they were against Immanuel Quickley: Brunson is a superstar and will play superstar minutes. The Knicks just paid Jose Alvarado to play backup point guard. And at 6-2, McBride\u2019s time at shooting guard will be limited, even if the advanced stats say the Knicks are winning those minutes.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t leave much burn to warrant the kind of contract McBride\u2019s talent commands \u2014 and the Knicks already have the next guy waiting: Tyler Kolek<\/a>, another hungry young guard ready to eat the same minutes McBride feasted upon when New York sent Quickley to Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot just Quick, but in the NBA, you see it all the time with [contract disputes leading to trades], and you just have to be a professional. You can\u2019t worry about those things,\u201d McBride said. \u201cI hope we come to some type of agreement. I\u2019ve played through injury. I\u2019ve been through a lot with this team, and I\u2019ve worked my way into being a key guy. So you know, I\u2019d love to get something done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent history suggests that \u201csomething\u201d is more likely to come from another team than it is from New York.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

When the ball leaves McBride\u2019s hands, fans inside Madison Square Garden leave their seats.<\/p>\n

And Tavares\u2019 dog leaves the room.<\/p>\n

The same \u201cDeuuuucee!\u201d chant reverberating throughout the Garden rips through her living room every time No. 2 gets going.<\/p>\n

It happened more often than not last season, at least until the injury: 4-of-6 from deep in the opener against Cleveland. Twenty-seven makes on 42 attempts over a six-game stretch. Twenty-five points on 7-of-9 from three in the closeout Game 4 against Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Miles McBride has earned his keep. The Knicks just can\u2019t pay him what he\u2019s worth \u2014 or at least they won\u2019t go over the second apron to do it, same as they wouldn\u2019t for Robinson.<\/p>\n

\u201c[James] Dolan\u2019s not that guy. He\u2019s not going to go above [the second apron]. It\u2019s unfortunate,\u201d said Tavares. \u201cTrying to keep a team like this together, the bench is key. We didn\u2019t win the year before because we didn\u2019t have the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n

The math explains why McBride\u2019s name keeps surfacing in trade talks.<\/p>\n

Towns, McBride and Josh Hart are extension-eligible now; Brunson and OG Anunoby follow next summer \u2014 five core pieces, one 18-month window. This year\u2019s second apron sits near $222 million. At the league\u2019s max 10% cap-smoothing rate, that\u2019s roughly $244 million next year, $268 million the year after \u2014 a ceiling Dolan has made clear isn\u2019t moving.<\/p>\n

Towns is eligible for four years, $276 million, but that is his absolute max and the two sides are still far apart in negotiations. Hart could re-sign for a longer-term deal this summer. Plus Brunson and Anunoby can each become free agents in 2028, opening their extension window next summer. Five raises, one ceiling \u2014 and McBride\u2019s new deal isn\u2019t the top priority for a front office doing that math on everyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a blessing,\u201d said McBride. \u201cThe whole summer\u2019s been nothing but love. But getting back to it, getting ready to defend that championship \u2014 and hopefully bring home another one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Knicks<\/p>\n

Kristian Winfield\/New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Knicks guard Miles ‘Deuce’ McBride signs autographs and chats with fans at meet-and-greet with fans on Staten Island on Friday. (Kristian Winfield\/New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The Knicks were in this spot with Robinson last season. They chose not to trade him at the deadline and gambled on free agency instead. Robinson walked \u2014 right up the block to Boston, a divisional rival freshly built around Jayson Tatum following the Jaylen Brown for Paul George swap with the Philadelphia 76ers.<\/p>\n

The point? A trade, even a likely one, isn\u2019t a certainty \u2014 but the front office would effectively waste one of it best trade assets if they allow McBride to reach free agency without the intention of signing him long-term.<\/p>\n

Robinson\u2019s departure made McBride, entering Year 6, the longest-tenured Knick.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, man. I miss my guy Mitch. But it\u2019s crazy, honestly,\u201d McBride told The News. \u201cJust thinking about coming in as a rookie, just trying to survive and trying to make it to the next deal and things like that. So it\u2019s been it\u2019s been cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

McBride said he\u2019s nowhere near his basketball ceiling. He called the NBA a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league \u2014 a gift and a curse, since every year is a new chance to prove it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big recency bias type of thing when it comes to the NBA,\u201d he said. \u201cI know I\u2019m capable of a lot of things, but sometimes, the game is: it\u2019s only one thing and you got to play different roles. So, I\u2019m ready to always expand my game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The question is whether he\u2019ll get that chance in front of the same fans who\u2019ve been chanting \u201cDeuuuceee!\u201d since the Knicks got him in 2021. New York\u2019s fans want one thing. New York\u2019s payroll wants another.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like in times where guys have been out, I\u2019ve been able to show a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s always \u2014 to me \u2014 it\u2019s about opportunity. I feel like I\u2019ve continued to grow and improve every single year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Debbie Tavares barged into her daughter\u2019s room. It was 8:00 on Friday morning when the lifelong Knicks fan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[16350,133258,4777,44600,10663,222,4779,1557,78318,9,24,63,133259,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-357647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-contract","tag-deuce","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-james-dolan","tag-knicks","tag-madison-square-garden","tag-miles-mcbride","tag-mitchell-robinson","tag-nba-championship","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-roster","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}