Mikal Bridges was traded to the Knicks this past offseason, and he looked like a good fit for this team. However, his inconsistent scoring and okay defense have left fans questioning if trading for him was the right move.
New York is now 43 games into the season with a record of 27-16. You may look at the record and think they’re doing great this year; however, that is far from the truth.
Over their last nine games, the Knicks have a record of 3-6 after losing to the Timberwolves on Friday night 116-99 and have not looked great defensively. Mikal Bridges was one of the guys they traded for to help bolster their defense. So far, he has not lived up to the hype for how much the New York traded for him.
The Knicks the offseason, traded Bojan Bogdanovic, Mamadi Diakite, Shake Milton, four unprotected 1st round picks, a pick swap, a top-four protected pick via the Bucks, and a 2nd round pick for Mikal Bridges, Keita Bates Diop, a 2nd round pick, and draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet.
The Knickerbockers only have Mikal and the 2nd round picks out of the trade, as Diop is now a free agent, and Vaulet is playing overseas. When looking at his numbers, Mikal Bridges is doing alright, averaging 18 PPG, 3 APG, and 3 RPG in 43 games this season. However, his scoring has been very inconsistent this season.
Over his last five games, in which NYK is 2-3, he is averaging just 14.2 PPG and even had a game against the Thunder in which he had zero points in 32 minutes as he shot 0-9 from the field.
Mikal has not been solid on the defensive side, either. While his defensive rating is above league average, it has been noticeable that when the Knicks play, they have been giving up an enormous number of threes.
A few nights ago, when they played the Timberwolves, they gave up 22 made threes. A few nights before that, when they played the Pistons, they let star Point Guard Cade Cunningham hit eight of his 13 three attempts. According to Mikal Bridges, due to the lack of defense played by the Knicks lately, he states, “We’ve just gotta be better. That’s all I can say.”
Mikal isn’t at fault for all of the Knicks’s issues, but he hasn’t helped them that much. According to an article by SNY insider Ian Begley, he states “Lately those wings-Bridges and OG Anunoby haven’t given the Knicks enough.” (Begley, 2025) We can’t say that the Knicks have lost the trade by any means, as it happened this past offseason.
We also can’t say that Bridges to the Knicks has been a failure and that we should give up that easily, as it has only been half a season. Still, Bridges has yet to fully be loved by Knicks fans as he just hasn’t had that moment yet to make Knicks fans fall in love with him, like Jalen Brunson or Josh Hart, for example.
It will be interesting to see how the Knicks and Mikal Bridges finish the season. Assuming they make the playoffs, it will also be interesting to see how Bridges performs in the playoffs as well. Depending on the type of performance he has in the playoffs will determine whether Knicks fans will either want him to stay for his career or want to have him traded by the offseason. We can’t grade the trade right now, but as it has played out, Mikal Bridges has not lived up to fans’ expectations for him to start the season.
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