Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, and Miles McBride helped the New York Knicks reach the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals and could help them get father in the playoffs next season while leading the charge of their second unit.
DiVincenzo and Hart were both heavily featured in the Knicks’ starting lineup last year, while McBride did most of his work coming off the bench. All three stepped up admirably while the Knicks dealt with a bevy of midseason injuries. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau relied on his talented guards to score, defend, and dictate the pace of the game when they saw the floor, and those three qualities could make all the difference in 2024-25 as they’re expected to be the three main stars in the second unit moving forward.
Knicks: Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart & Miles McBride were vital in the 2024 ECF
As Knicks Muse shared on X, New York’s trio of wing contributors played the most minutes in the team’s second-round series against the Indiana Pacers last time out:
Knicks could have one of the fastest benches in the NBA in 2024-25
Pace of play is an area of the game that the Knicks made a concerted effort to improve in last year. DiVincenzo aided those efforts with superb off-ball movement in the half-court. Hart contributed by pushing the ball in transition and McBride did his part by upping his three-point percentage to 41 percent while establishing himself as a reliable option for his teammates to kick out to for spot-up opportunities.
On the upcoming campaign, all three are expected to be the backbone of the Knicks’ reserve unit. Coach Thibodeau likes to run eight and nine-man rotations, which will necessitate the trio of guards to do the heavy lifting offensively. McBride in particular will also be looked at to take on opposing teams’ best scorers in the starting and reserve units when spelling for Mika Bridges or Jalen Brunson.
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DiVincenzo, Hart, and McBride all shared the floor together for 41 games last season. They played an average of 14.8 minutes per contest. Within that sample size, New York’s key role players helped the Knicks dish out 8.3 assists and collect 2.7 steals per night while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three-point range. They were also a +1.5 in the plus/minus category.
Hart likes to run, DiVincenzo likes to run and trail and McBride has fresh legs and a confident trigger from deep. With those three handling the lion’s share of playmaking duties off the bench in 2024-25, they could help the Knicks play even faster en route to a championship-hopeful run.
