After the Boston Celtics' extended guard Payton Pritchard, the New York Knicks may be dreading paying Deuce McBride. The Knicks have already shut down extension talks with star Karl-Anthony Towns, so McBride isn't going to be extended either.
However, Pritchard receiving two years and $44 million could be a potential new contract starting point for McBride, and that should concern the Knicks. New York has other players coming due for extensions, including Towns and Josh Hart.
That means the Knicks could soon become incredibly expensive. McBride possibly wanting roughly $21 million a year isn't an outrageous demand, but it could be costly for New York.
Remember, if they extend Towns, they would have at least four players making at least $33 million a year. That's not feasible with the salary cap for this season being just $156 million.
Peyton Pritchard's extension gives Deuce McBride expensive starting point
McBride could potentially start on another team, but he averaged just 21 minutes per game last season for New York. They no doubt know his value, but Pritchard's extension could make keeping McBride that much tougher.
If he and his agent believe he's worth the least that amount, then contract negotiations could start out at around $20 million annually.
If that's the case, then they might be better served moving on from McBride and looking to fill the backup guard with a cheap veteran alternative. In fact, they did that already with Mitchell Robinson being replaced by Andre Drummond.
As a result, if McBride is expecting the Knicks to offer Pritchard money, he may instead have to get it elsewhere.
The New York Knicks may have to move on from Deuce McBride
In a lot of ways, the Knicks could fall victim to "the disease of more," a quote from Hall of Famer Pat Riley. This often happens with championship teams when key players want more money for playing crucial roles on winning teams.
It's fair to want more money, but the Knicks are seeing the downside of the disease of more. More than likely, they will have to make several tough decisions regarding who stays and who goes.
If I were to guess, I'd imagine the Knicks play hardball with Towns, standing firm on their demand that he take a $76 million pay cut to stay with the team. As a result, I expect him to opt out next summer and potentially leave.
In doing so, it would allow New York to preserve some of their depth, though they may not be able to afford both Hart and McBride. Between the two, I'd expect them to keep Hart and potentially let McBride leave or trade him before it gets to that point.
