Former WVU men’s basketball player Miles ‘Deuce’ McBride undeniably had the best season of his career in the NBA so far during 2023-2024.
McBride was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder and traded to the New York Knicks on draft night. During the first two years of his career, Deuce was a role player, a guy who came off the bench and played just a handful of minutes a game looking to make whatever impact he could.
However, McBride was a key piece in helping New York make a playoff run this past season. At the beginning of the season, he continued seeing a few minutes a game and was ultimately overlooked on the Knicks bench. After the Knicks made a trade with the Toronto Raptors, that sent two guards and a second-round pick in return for OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn, Deuce was given a much better opportunity to make an impact.
Immediately after the trade, McBride saw more playing time. Yet, McBride was still playing behind one of the best guards in the NBA, Jalen Brunson. On Jan. 13, Brunson was ruled out before a matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies and Deuce would get the start, scoring his then career-high 19 points in a Knicks win over Memphis.
Two nights later, Deuce would set a new career-high, starting for Brunson again, with 20 points in a loss to the Orlando Magic. That trend continued, anytime Brunson was able to play and McBride was called upon, he made the most of it. Deuce raised the bar on his career-high less than a month later in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks with 21.
In April, Deuce would go off once again vs the Golden State Warriors, setting another career high with 29 points, which he would tie just over a week later against the Raptors. When it was all said and done, McBride had eight games, where he scored 20 or more points including two in the playoffs.
In the playoffs, he averaged over 10 points per game in each series and shot over 43% from three in the Knicks’ series win over the Philadelphia 76ers. With the Knicks as one of the rising teams in the NBA gaining more attention and looking to dethrone the Boston Celtics, Deuce has a chance to continue to make a name for himself and be a key piece in New York for years to come.
