MORGANTOWN — Deuce’s McBride’s hopes of being a first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft were dashed Thursday night, but the former WVU standout did get picked up in the second round and is headed to the New York Knicks.
The Oklahoma City Thunder took McBride with the 36th overall pick — the sixth pick of the second round — but his rights were traded to the Knicks.
“They’re going to get some real toughness,” ESPN draft analyst Jay Bilas said of McBride. “He’s an excellent defender, very good on the ball and very good with his pressure. He’s got good lateral quickness and a ton of grit. He’s a good pick-and-roll defender.”
Coming out of the NBA Combine in June, McBride had been projected as a late first-round pick, which prompted him to announce on July 3 that he was leaving college after just two seasons and keeping his name in the draft.
But, the first round came and went and McBride did not hear his name called in a draft that saw five point guards taken in the first 30 picks.
Also, former WVU forward Derek Culver was not selected. Culver announced in April he was
signing with an agent and forgoing his senior season of eligibility, even though he was not projected to be drafted.
McBride watched the draft back home in Cincinnati, at Archbishop Moeller High School with family, friends and former teammates.
McBride led the Crusaders to consecutive state championships in 2018 and 2019.
“He’s always been a very mature kid,” Moeller head coach Carl Kremer said. “I think he’ll handle the NBA life without much trouble.
“I basically told him that nothing has changed. You still have to go in there and out-work everyone. Nobody is just going to hand him anything.”
Kremer said as many as 10 different NBA teams called him in the weeks leading up to the draft.
“They all wanted to know about Deuce’s character and what type of kid he was in high school and how hard he worked, those types of things,” Kremer said. “I didn’t know which teams were really interested in him, but I had a feel from the conversations that he was going to be picked somewhere in the first round.”
That didn’t happen and McBride slipped to the second round, which means he will not have a guaranteed contract.
McBride’s next action will come in Las Vegas in August with the Knicks’ summer league team.
The same could be true for Culver, if he is signed as a free agent.
As a second-rounder, McBride will have to impress in the summer league and then make New York’s roster during training camp.
The Knicks do have a need at point guard. Derrick Rose will be 33 next season and New York does not have a lot of depth behind him. Elfrid Payton also started at point guard for New York, but was pulled out of the Knicks’ lineup during the playoffs and he is now a free agent.
“I told Deuce and his family that it doesn’t matter when you get picked,” WVU assistant Erik Martin said before the draft. “Getting picked is the big deal, and then you have to get back to work and prove yourself.”
Meanwhile, WVU remained stuck at six all-time first round NBA selections, the most recent being Joe Alexander in 2008.
McBride did become the fifth WVU player coached by Bob Huggins to be drafted, along with Jevon Carter, Da’Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks and Alexander.
In two seasons with the Mountaineers, McBride scored 756 points, dished out 196 assists and shot 36.8% from 3-point range.
He was an all-Big 12 second-team selection last season after averaging 15.9 points and 4.8 assists per game.
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