Observing that August 11 came and went without a contract extension for Miles McBride, Jared Schwartz of The New York Post (subscription required) makes the case that Tuesday represented a “soft deadline” for a new deal for the Knicks guard.

In Schwartz’s view, McBride is now unlikely to receive an extension before the February 11 trade deadline, since signing a new contract that meets certain criteria would make him ineligible to be dealt for six months. McBride will be one of the Knicks’ best in-season trade assets, according to Schwartz, who argues that the team can’t afford to compromise its flexibility by making him ineligible to be moved on or before Feb. 11.

However, Schwartz’s argument is based on the premise that McBride would lose his trade eligibility if he receives more than a 20% raise on his current $3.96MM salary. In actuality, the guard could sign for any amount up to about $18.92MM (120% of the NBA’s estimated average salary) and still be trade-eligible as long as his new deal doesn’t cover more than three seasons or include subsequent annual raises exceeding 5%.

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That doesn’t necessarily mean an extension with McBride is coming — the Knicks are already facing a cap crunch and will be prioritizing a new deal for Karl-Anthony Towns. But if they want to extend McBride, the Knicks would likely be able to fit a new contract within those aforementioned parameters and ensure he remains trade-eligible, so I don’t consider the Aug. 11 “soft deadline” to be especially meaningful.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Contrary to prior reporting, Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s absence from Greece’s national team roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifying games isn’t due to an edict from the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required). As Winderman explains, a joint decision was made for Antetokounmpo to skip the August qualifiers, since he’s coming off an injury-shortened 2025/26 season and wants to get a head-start on acclimating to his new NBA team. Giannis’ brothers Kostas Antetokounmpo and Thanasis Antetokounmpo are both on Greece’s preliminary roster for qualifying contests vs. the Ukraine (Aug. 28) and Spain (Aug. 31).
In an episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com discusses Saliou Niang‘s plans to suit up for LSU in 2026/27, noting that the Cavaliers remain high on the Senegalese forward, who was the 58th overall pick in 2025. Adding Niang to their roster for the coming season was likely never under serious consideration for the Cavs, but Fedor believes the 22-year-old remains in play for ’27/28.
Former Nebraska forward Rienk Mast, who is expected to be in camp with the Pacers on an Exhibit 10 contract after a strong Summer League showing (15.2 PPG, 9.0 RPG), is on the Netherlands’ roster for this month’s World Cup qualifiers, the Cornhuskers announced in a press release. The Dutch national team will face Germany on Aug. 27 and Croatia on Aug. 30.