Just days before the 2024 NBA draft, Mikal Bridges has been traded to the New York Knicks. And they gave up a haul: Five first-round picks, four of which are unprotected, a pick swap, a second, and Bojan Bogdanović. All for him to cross the Brooklyn Bridge and recreate the 2016 Villanova Wildcats. It’s funny how things come around.
Whilst this was an expensive deal for the Knicks, the fit is too perfect to criticise. Mikal plugs numerous weaknesses on both sides of the floor fits the Thibodeau mould to a tee and has played with half the roster already. He will no doubt lift New York into the stratum of legitimate contenders.
The Price
The Knicks certainly paid a premium for this deal; buying from their neighbours, the Brooklyn Nets, was always going to add a cost. Couple that with Mikal Bridges’ relatively modest contract, averaging around $23.5m over the next two seasons, his productivity for Brooklyn, and his spotless availability, and you start to understand why this trade required so many picks.
New York sent four of their unprotected first-round picks between 2025 and 2031. That, in no uncertain terms, is a mortgage of their future and a commitment to contend for a championship for the foreseeable.
They also sent Milwaukee’s pick next year with top-four protection and a pick-swap in 2028, in which Brooklyn will receive the more valuable of the two picks.
Make no mistake, this is one of the more expensive deals in NBA history, but the market has changed significantly. Minnesota sent four first-round picks and a plethora of young talent to Utah for Rudy Gobert in 2022. San Antonio received three first-rounders and a swap for Dejounte Murray that same year. These are good players, but would not be considered amongst the NBA’s elite.
Trades like these, even without names like Kevin Durant or James Harden, complicate the process and come at a high cost, but they are worth it if they provide a realistic shot at winning a ring.
The fit with Brunson
Mikal Bridges is the perfect complement for Jalen Brunson’s explosive scoring and will create a level of dynamism that New York has been missing.
The Knicks’ past two playoff runs have demonstrated Brunson’s infallibility. Averaging 32.4 points per game in the 2024 play-offs, he contributed a host of scoring masterclasses, playing almost every minute and confirming his role as the rock around which the team orbits. But he can’t do it all.
New York ultimately fell to the Indiana Pacers in seven games after Jalen’s wrist buckled, struggling to hold up his team any longer. The Knicks relied too heavily on his superhuman efforts.
This is where Mikal Bridges slots in
This is where Mikal Bridges slots in. He has performed on the biggest stages, putting up 27 points in Phoenix’s game two victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 NBA finals. But more importantly, he has done this as the third or fourth scoring option, having to fight for touches against the shooting phenom Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton. Bridges knows how to impact a game even when he’s not the centre of attention.
He excels off the ball, able to free himself from his defender and knock down catch-and-shoot opportunities at an efficient rate. He ranked third in corner three-pointers last season with 82 and second the season prior. Brunson’s ability to beat his defender and penetrate the mid-range draws defensive help from the wings and thus will generate consistent open looks for Mikal to exploit. It’s worth noting that the man in second for corner threes made last season was New York teammate Donte DiVincenzo, who benefited enormously playing alongside Jalen. Expect the frequency and efficiency of Bridge’s open shots to increase.
Mikal is not afraid of taking the big shots in the big moments, stacking up the sixth most ‘clutch’ points (points in the final 5 minutes with the game within 5 points) in the league. Moreover, he did this with 49.4% field goal efficiency—that’s almost four per cent higher than Steph Curry’s. This unflappability will prove integral in the decisive moments of the playoffs, where New York will need to be able to look further than Brunson to get over the line.
Mr Indestructable
Perhaps Bridges’ most impressive attribute, arguably the most crucial ability, is his availability. He has NEVER missed a game. Yes, never. No injuries, no sickness, no COVID. Nothing. With this level of consistency, a coach like Tom Thibodeau, notorious for running his players into the ground, will be frothing at the mouth.
Not only will this alleviate some pressure off of New York’s premiere talent, but his constant presence will build continuity, which, when carried over to the playoffs, can be lethal.
Defence wins championships
Coined by football coaching legend Bear Bryant and reiterated by the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, this adage rings true now more than ever.
In the last six years, only Denver has held a defensive rating that ranked outside the top ten and still won a championship. The average ranking for defensive rating for championship winners, excluding Denver, is fourth. There is some method to the madness.
Thibodeau, known for producing stifling defensive teams, will take offense at being rated the league’s ninth-best last season.
The addition of Bridges to the roster, alongside the extension of OG Anunoby’s tenure, who was acquired in December of last year, will surely elicit an unrelenting defensive outfit. Both are athletic and have long wings with impressive lateral quickness and timing on defensive rotations. In an increasingly positionless game, these attributes will allow New York to switch defensive coverages constantly, preventing gaps and nullifying pick-and-roll dominant offences.
Matching up with the newly crowned Boston Celtics will be essential if the Knicks are to emerge from the Eastern Conference. Therefore, being able to deploy two elite perimeter defenders against Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum is invaluable.
The Nova Knicks
This will be the first time that FOUR former college teammates will play together on the same NBA team. Not only did Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson, and Donte DiVincenzo all represent the Villanova Wildcats alongside Mikal, but they also won an NCAA championship together in 2016 twice if you count Bridges, Brunson, and DiVincenzo winning yet again in 2018.
In this past year, one of the Knicks’ most successful seasons in recent memory, they proved the infallibility of cohesion and chemistry. With Mikal, the benefits will multiply.
They won’t need an adjustment period to get attuned to each other’s tendencies. Years of training and playing together have built trust, understanding, and fluidity. When Brunson drives left, he won’t have to look to know that Josh Hart is cutting back the door and Mikal is drifting to the corner. You remove the clunkiness and hesitations, which gives defences time to predict and intervene.
This should be the feel-good story of the 2024/25 season, but I will be expecting a lot more than jokes and tweets. The Knicks and Bridges must prove they were right to put their future on hold and go all in on their Wildcats.
Image Credit: Deposit Photos
