Нью-Йорк Никсийн хамгаалагч Майлз Макбрайд гэрээний хугацаа нь дуусгавар болох гэж байгаа тул ирээдүйнхээ төлөө өөрийгөө дахин нотлох шаардлагатай болжээ.
Нью-Йорк Никсийн дасгалжуулагч Майк Браун бэлтгэлийн баазын эхний өдрүүдэд багийн дотоод асуудлуудын талаарх асуултуудад хариулж байна. Эдгээр асуудлын нэг нь 26 настай Майлз Макбрайдын гэрээний асуудал бөгөөд тэрээр гурван жилийн 13 сая долларын гэрээнийхээ сүүлийн жилдээ орж байгаа юм. Хэрэв талууд гэрээгээ сунгахгүй бол ирэх жил тэрээр чөлөөт агент болно.
Макбрайд өөрийн карьераа Нью-Йоркт үргэлжлүүлэх хүсэлтэй байгаагаа илэрхийлсэн боловч гэрээ сунгах тал дээр ахиц дэвшил бага байна. Тэрээр Карл-Энтони Таунс, Жош Харт нарын адил гэрээний тодорхойгүй байдалд байгаа багийн гол гурван тоглогчийн нэг юм. Никс багийн удирдлага гэрээ нь дуусгавар болж буй тоглогчдыг чөлөөт агент болохоос нь өмнө солилцоогоор явуулах хандлагатай байдаг нь түүний ирээдүйг бүрхэг болгож байна.
Багийн эзэн Жэймс Доланы зүгээс төсвийг хоёр дахь шатны хязгаараас доош барих хатуу шаардлага тавьсан нь Макбрайдын гэрээнд нөлөөлж болзошгүй юм. Тэрээр энэ жил 4 сая орчим долларын цалин авах бөгөөд баг нь гарааны тавтдаа их хэмжээний хөрөнгө оруулалт хийсэн тул сэлгээний тоглогчид их хэмжээний гэрээ санал болгох боломж хязгаарлагдмал байна. Одоогоор Никс баг сэлгээний хамгаалагчийн өргөн сонголттой байгаа тул Макбрайдыг өндөр чанартай төвийн тоглогчоор солих боломжтой гэсэн таамаг ч байгаа юм.
Макбрайд өнгөрсөн улиралд гурван онооны шидэлтийн 42.0 хувийн амжилттай тоглож байсан ч бэртлийн улмаас хагалгаанд орж, улмаар плэй-оффт хүндрэлтэй тулгарсан юм. Тэрээр одоо эрүүл саруул болсон бөгөөд Никс эсвэл өөр багт тоглосон ч бай, өөрийн шилдэг тоглолтоо үзүүлэхэд бэлэн байна. Дасгалжуулагч Майк Браун энэ нөхцөл байдал нь багийн аваргаа хамгаалах зорилгод саад учруулахгүй байх тал дээр анхаарч байгаагаа илэрхийлжээ.
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Knicks coach Mike Brown has spent much of the early days of training camp answering questions about how his team will address what he labeled “elephants in the room.”
Miles McBride’s expiring contract is one of the biggest.
The 26-year-old McBride is entering the final year of his three-year, $13 million contract and is set to become a free agent next year unless he and the Knicks agree to an extension. But there has been little movement in that regard, and his long-term Knicks future is uncertain.
“Obviously I love being in New York,” McBride said after practice Wednesday. “I’d love to continue my career here, end my career here. Best fans, I feel like we’ve done, obviously, something great this past year and the years leading up to that and I want to continue with this team.”
He is one of a trio of key Knicks whose contract situations are likely to hover over the season — Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart spoke Monday about the discomfort of not yet having signed extensions themselves. But McBride is the only one currently on an expiring deal, and the Knicks front office has a history of trading players on expiring deals rather than losing them for nothing in free agency. Mitchell Robinson this past offseason was an exception.
And the Knicks have a well-documented edict from owner James Dolan to remain under the second apron. McBride, set to earn just under $4 million this year, is one of the best values in the league. But assuming he has another productive season, he is in line for a dramatic pay raise.
The Knicks have significant money invested in their starting five and will already be hard-pressed to keep that unit together, much less anyone else. It is likely just not feasible to also give a big contract to a bench player, even if he plays a key role. Robinson was a casualty of that reality.
The Knicks also have good depth at backup guard in Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson. They lack depth at center behind Towns, with Andre Drummond the only backup who is a lock to make the roster. McBride is the best trade chip on the bench that would actually bring back good value and it would make sense that the Knicks could look to flip him for a quality big man.
“I feel like in a sense, every year you have to prove yourself,” McBride said. “I feel like there’s uncertainty across the board for everybody in the league. Everybody’s going for big contracts and this and that. So I don’t let it really bother me. At the end of the day, I just want to go out there and give it my shot, play my best basketball.”
Along with Towns’ and Hart’s negotiations, it presents a potential distraction amid the attempt to repeat as champions.
“We’re gonna face a lot of adversity and challenges throughout the course of the year,” coach Mike Brown said on Wednesday. “I addressed the group on that. I addressed individuals on that. There will probably be a time and place that I talk to [McBride] because he’s human, we’re all human, and we all want what’s best not just for ourselves but for our family as well as the organization, too. That’s a nice balancing act. But at the end of the day, he wants to be here, we want him to be here, and that’s something that I have faith in [president] Leon [Rose] and even Deuce’s representatives to figure that out.”
That McBride played through injury and sacrificed his body last year also plays into this.
He was terrific, shooting a career-high 42.0 percent from 3-point range before being sidelined after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia. He came back at the end of the regular season, though he was not as effective and struggled at times in the playoffs.
“It’s kind of crazy, thinking about how unhealthy I was playing through that playoff run,” McBride said. “You go through surgery in an area where you need it. The easy medical term is sports hernia but it was a lot more complex than that. … The pain, there’s only so much you can do with that.”
Healthy again, McBride is confident he’ll be back to his best while auditioning for a new contract — with the Knicks or someone else.
