Knicks Backup Could Earn Starting Role

The New York Knicks still have 80 games left on the schedule, which leaves plenty of time for the team to make some changes.

For the first two games of the year, the Knicks have rolled out a starting lineup of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns.

However, chances are that won’t stay the same all season long. Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes believes that Miles McBride could eventually find his way into the starting lineup at some point this season.

“McBride, a 24-year-old guard who shot 41.0 percent from deep last year, won’t be new to any potential role expansion. He’s already proved he can ramp up his contributions when necessary,” Hughes writes. “After barely playing through December of 2023, McBride found himself regularly logging 40-plus minutes for a desperately thin Knicks team in March. That may not be required of him in 2024-25 unless injuries afflict the guard rotation like they have the bigs in the early going, but McBride is still the only reliable backup on the roster. He’s bound to log at least a handful of starts over the course of the year.”

McBride, 24, is averaging 15 points per game so far this season and has made all but one of his seven attempts from downtown.

Having McBride’s scoring off the bench gives the second unit some juice, but the Knicks may feel like that is more important to have in the starting lineup.

If McBride were to replace anyone in the starting lineup, it would likely be Hart, who has talked about the idea of him coming off the bench in the past.

However, any change to the Knicks starting lineup will likely be due to injury rather than schemes.

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