As Miles McBride has taken Derrick Rose‘s spot in the Knicks‘ rotation, he has received plenty of advice from the veteran guard, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. McBride logged 16 minutes in Sunday’s win over the Cavaliers, while Rose never left the bench. It was the second night of a back-to-back, but it appears coach Tom Thibodeau plans to keep that arrangement in place.
“(Rose) handles it very well,” McBride said. “I don’t think he’s the type of guy to get down on himself. We’re all human and at the end of the day we compete. That’s why we’re in this business, in this league. You couldn’t ask for a better vet. He’s handled it well. He’s talked to me. He understands it. It’s the nature of the beast.”
McBride has been waiting for a shot at regular playing time since being selected in the second round of the 2021 draft. He averaged 9.3 minutes in 40 games as a rookie and was seeing just 6.8 minutes per night in 12 games before this current opportunity. McBride isn’t an offensive threat like Rose, but he has other qualities that fit his coach’s philosophy.
“He’s real long. You look at wingspan, that’s a huge asset for him,” Thibodeau said. “Toughness, anticipation, great feet, strength, all those things. Very, very competitive. High IQ in terms of reading the game. And he’s a multiple-effort guy. He’s going to give you more than one effort on every play.”
There’s more on the Knicks:
- Rose and Cam Reddish have joined Evan Fournier in being removed from the rotation, but Thibodeau expects everyone to contribute, whether they’re seeing regular playing time or not, Popper adds in a separate story. Thibodeau explained that he made the latest moves to place a stronger emphasis on defense.
- The Knicks need to find a star player and they have to be ready with an offer when the next one becomes available, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said tonight on the network’s pre-game show (video link). Woj mentions the Bulls‘ Zach LaVine as a potential target by February’s trade deadline, but says he’s not available yet. LaVine signed a five-year extension with Chicago during the offseason.
- In case you missed it, the Knicks are reportedly working with Reddish’s representatives to try to find a trade for the fourth-year forward.
Beal to NYK
RJ, Mitch, Julius, and picks for Beal and Zingis. Let’s do it!
Could have had Donovan smh. I was all over these boards arguing for making the trade and not many agreed with me at all. Crazy they passed that up, and now I have to read about how they need a star? Mitchell is better than LeVine not to mention I worry a lot about LeVine’s health. This sucks.
Huge missed opportunity for the Knicks. Just another big mistake for a franchise that just always seems to get it wrong.
No, Woj, the Knicks don’t need to “find” a star player; and its hard to know what the term star even means when you bring up a guy like LaVine. Why would the Knicks assume they would have any more success with LaVine than the Bulls have had? There are maybe 10 players in the league that could justify trading five successive unprotected 1sts and swaps, and no guy like that has ever been made available by his team, at its instance.