Does Latest Signing Mark End for Knicks Depth Star?

Are the New York Knicks getting ready to stay deuces to Deuce?

Monday’s move could be a precursor to leaving Miles McBride at the altar: New York signed former Philadelphia 76er Cameron Payne to a one-year, $3.1 million deal, picking up another backcourt depth star despite the lack of interior help.

With the backcourt core firmly built, signing Payne, set to enter his 10th season and 30th year come August, seems like a bit of a surprise at first glance, especially considering the 23-year-old West Virginia product’s breakout. McBride went from mop-up duty to crunch time this season, watching sterling numbers replace the dreaded “DNP-CD” initials in his box scores.

One could argue that the Knicks are using Payne (9.3 points in just under 20 minutes during his 31-game stint with Philadelphia) to make up for the relative lack of backcourt bench scoring in the wake of Immanuel Quickley’s move to Toronto, a void that neither Alec Burks nor Quentin Grimes fulfilled in a satisfying fashion. But McBride, who built a previous reputation as a defensive stalwart, filled that role handsomely, averaging 10.6 over the 50 post-Quickley games.

SNY Knicks insider Ian Begley believed that the deal for Payne isn’t a “direct reflection of how the Knicks view McBride,” noting that the team did its utmost to keep the fourth-year man out of the Brooklyn-bound package that landed Mikal Bridges’ services (Bojan Bogdanovic and Mamadi Diakite wound up being included with draft picks instead).

But Begley also took note of the Knicks’ increasingly crowded roster situation: New York currently has 14 men under contract (13 guaranteed, one two-way player in second-round pick Ariel Hukporti). Elsewhere in the rookie bunch, the Pacome Dadiet experiment insists on staying in America and it’s safe to assume the Knicks have plans for Tyler Kolek considering the trouble they went through to obtain his services (sending three picks to Portland to move up four spots to the Marquette alum’s arrival).

Add in Donte DiVincenzo’s (presumed) return to the bench and suddenly McBride’s in danger of ending back where he started. Head coach Tom Thibodeau has shown no prejudice in issuing exile papers, as veteran (Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose) and potential-packed youngsters alike (Obi Toppin) have gotten the boot in the name of a compact rotation.

Anyone remotely familiar with the Knicks’ offseason activities knows about the lack of interior depth: calling for Mitchell Robinson’s departure does more harm than good while Jericho Sims carries familiarity but has yet to establish any permanent role three years into his Manhattan tours. Crawling back to Precious Achiuwa remains an option but any trade import worthwhile (i.e. Wendell Carter, Nick Richards) is going to require a sacrifice beyond draft picks.

With all that has transpired, McBride may be the most expendable, if not most unfortunate, option to be moved, no matter how highly the Knicks think of him.

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