The New York Knicks are on pace to play Deuce McBride with their four core starters more than they did last season. And it’s still not enough.
Entering their tilt against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night, the Knicks have rolled out McBride alongside Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns for a grand total of 25 minutes. To head coach Mike Brown’s credit, this is almost as much time as his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, gave that group all of last year. The fivesome racked up an inexplicably low 31 minutes for all of 2024-25.
Edging out last year’s volume nevertheless isn’t enough of a shift. It’s tantamount to improving upon an unfathomably low baseline. The Knicks should want to see more of Deuce-plus-the-starters.
The results once again speak for themselves. New York is a plus-11.3 points per 100 possessions with that quintet on the court—and that’s without shooting a particularly high clip from downtown (33.3 percent).
None of which should be particularly surprising. The benefits of playing McBride with the four staple starters extends beyond the five-out spacing. The biggest boost may actually come on defense. McBride is the Knicks’ best point-of-attack pest. Every possession he’s on the floor is another possession in which both Brides and Anunoby operate in their optimal defensive roles.
This raises the question: Why isn’t New York playing what might be its best five-man lineup more?
The major reason the Knicks aren’t leaning on Deuce-plus-the-starters more
McBride missed two games earlier this season due to personal reasons. That contributes to this fivesome’s modest minutes total.
We should also note that the unit of JB, Deuce, Bridges, OG, and KAT is the team’s fourth-most played lineup. Brown has been exceedingly open about experimenting with his rotations, and this trial-and-error period could be repressing the group’s total court time.
Yet, the biggest obstacle of all is the Knicks’ backup point guard situation. They do not have a reliable floor general coming off the bench behind Brunson. Unless they add someone to take on those responsibilities, Brown will remain inclined to sub in McBride for Brunson, which inherently limits how much they play together.
Right now, about 46 percent of Deuce’s minutes have come without JB on the court. And when they are both in the game, Brown is mostly inclined to have Towns off the floor. Just 44 percent of the minutes Brunson and Deuce have logged together come alongside KAT.
Here’s how the Knicks can find more time for their most intriguing lineup
It would be easier for the Knicks to tap into one of their fanbase’s most rabid desires if they had someone else they trusted to run the offense. Putting Jordan Clarkson or Tyler Kolek in charge of the show is a no-go.
Still, the Knicks can eke out more reps for Deuce-plus-the-starters if they get creative.
Giving Hart a chance to run second units is worth a shot. Forcing him to spend more time beside Mitchell Robinson would leave more reps for Deuce to play with the starters, too. If they game it correctly, the Knicks could try increasing the amount of time KAT and JB are off the floor together by giving Bridges solo keys to the second unit.
Failing that, fully unlocking Deuce-plus-starters reps may require New York acquiring another ball-handler. And while it feels too early to think about trades, it’s not too early to state what should be painfully obvious: New York must find a way to use its most tantalizing lineup more than sparingly.