When the New York Knicks hired Mike Brown to replace Tom Thibodeau, Miles McBride was instantly granted a unique opportunity to take a massive step forward. Brown enters New York as something of a scoring guard whisperer, revered for his ability to bring the best out of undersized shot creators.
Compounded by the changes that many expect Brown to make to the Knicks' longstanding rotational structure, McBride will have a chance to turn in a career year in 2025-26.
2024-25 was by no means a disappointing season for McBride. He averaged 9.5 points, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 steal, and 1.8 three-point field goals made in 24.9 minutes per game, which translates to 9.5 points, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 steal, and 1.8 three-point field goals made per 36 minutes.
Unfortunately, McBride also shot at a clip of .406/.369/.813 in 2024-25—down dramatically from the .452/.410/.860 slash line he posted in 2023-24.
Much went into that decrease in efficiency, including Thibodeau's short rotations and the NBA simply becoming aware of McBride's offensive abilities after his breakout season in 2023-24. What's clear heading into 2025-26, however, is that Brown is the perfect coach for him.
With this in mind, there's a realistic possibility that McBride could walk away with the 2025-26 Sixth Man of the Year award.
Mike Brown the perfect coach to tap into Miles McBride's potential
Brown's reputation arguably took shape during the 2007 Playoffs. He coached the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals, with Daniel Gibson unexpectedly emerging as an X-Factor who could come in and put up points in a hurry despite being the proverbial tweener.
Two years later, Brown proved his influence could span a full season when he helped Mo Williams receive the first and only All-Star Game appearance of his 13-year career.
Williams averaged 17.8 points per game in 2008-09, which was both a career-best mark and admittedly only up by 0.6 from the previous season. The difference between what he achieved under and before Brown, however, is a matter of an extreme leap in efficiency.
Williams had averaged 0.9 three-point field goals made on 35.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc through his first five seasons, but tallied 2.3 on 43.2 percent shooting in two years under Brown.
A more recent example of Brown's impact on his scoring guards is the fact that he helped De'Aaron Fox earn his only All-NBA appearance. Fox increased his eFG% percentage from .506 to .557 during his first season under Brown, and went from 29.7 percent from beyond the arc to a peak of 36.9 percent.
One of the primary reasons McBride should see a similar increase in efficiency is that Brown's offense relies heavily on generating catch-and-shoot opportunities.
Brown's Sacramento Kings ranked No. 4 in 2023-24 and No. 2 in 2024-25 in catch-and-shoot three-point field goal attempts. McBride, meanwhile, shot 42.2 percent on catch-and-shoot threes in 2023-24 and 40.4 percent in 2024-25.
With an increase in volume and a prominent role in easing the burden on Jalen Brunson, McBride should be in the running for Sixth Man of the Year in 2025-26.