Down 2-1 in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the New York Knicks set themselves on an NBA Championship-winning course by enabling Karl-Anthony Towns as a playmaker. Every part of Mike Brown's year-long plan seemingly clicked into place as the Knicks learned in real time what success might need to look like.
The big man's playmaking didn't involve bringing the basketball up the court to start possessions. Towns did, however, become the command center of the Knicks' offense, with an arsenal full of options from his own versatile scoring to the bruising, physical cuts of OG Anunoby and adept off-ball relocations of Jalen Brunson.
Another one of those weapons was the 3-point shooting of Miles McBride. The guard certainly wasn't at his best throughout the playoffs, coming off of two months of rehabilitation. Regardless, McBride's biggest weakness has arguably always been his ability to make plays for his teammates. Next season, the Knicks will have had a full summer to gameplan around Towns' playmaking — and the guard won't be recovering from surgery. That has all the makings of a perfect storm for all parties involved.
Towns' playmaking would help hide McBride's biggest weakness
During the Knicks' title run, McBride was fresh off sports hernia surgery that seemingly put a damper on his tendency to get hot and swing games. Despite making just a third of his field goals, he did swish 37.5% of his 3-point looks. But that conversion rate came on an average of just 4.2 shots per game from behind the arc — still not close to the 6.6 he averaged throughout the regular season.
The general decrease in production seemed to be the result of both decreased playing time (McBride averaged about 26 MPG during the regular season, compared to just 17 in the playoffs) and physical limitations.
Tom Thibodeau always used to say that "everyone's got something" medically by the time the postseason came around, but McBride's surgery certainly rendered him one of the more literal examples.
Next season, though, the guard should be entirely ready to suit up from game one. It'll be for a contract year, with the deal fans universally agreed was an all-time bargain finally coming to an end.
The Knicks, on their side of things, are reportedly already excited about the new heights their offense can reach. Alan Hahn spoke to an assistant coach that could barely contain themselves talking about the potential returns of continuing to put offensive possessions in Towns' hands.
McBride is an elite defender. He's one of the Knicks' best 3-point shooters in recent memory, taking both accuracy and volume into account. And his mentality consistently shines through, despite the general lack of media attention he gets as a bench player. But he isn't exactly Magic Johnson when it comes to driving into the paint and "spraying" the ball into the hands of an open teammate.
The longest-tenured Knick thrives as that open teammate. And Towns should be glad to find him, as often as defenses allow it, throughout the 2026-27 campaign.
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