Is Mikal Bridges the missing piece in the New York Knicks’ championship quest?

The New York Knicks made a potentially league-altering trade just before the NBA Draft. They acquired forward Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets, in exchange for several draft picks (more on that later), and Bojan Bogdanovic. We’ll dive into whether Bridges’ addition to the team can realistically get the Knicks over the hump. All statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

After two consecutive appearances in the second round of the NBA playoffs, the New York Knicks appear to be fully focused on advancing even farther in the postseason. In order to obtain Bridges, they parted ways with a bunch of potentially valuable draft capital.

According to ESPN, the Nets will be receiving a whopping four unprotected Knicks first round selections in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031. Brooklyn will also get a protected 2025 first rounder from the Milwaukee Bucks, and a 2025 second round selection. In addition to all of that, the Nets will also have the right to switch first round picks with the Knicks in 2028.

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The Knicks essentially decided to part ways with a lot of their future assets in order to bring Bridges on board. It speaks to how realistic they feel a title push is next season, and it feels like the front office believes that they aren’t too far away from the promised land.

It certainly seems like the Knicks got the attention of the betting world with this transaction. Sports Illustrated reported that the Knicks NBA championship odds at BetMGM were +1700 before the Bridges trade, but have since shifted to +900.

Of course, one of the main narratives surrounding Mikal Bridges’ courtship and eventual arrival was the notion that he would be reunited with college teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo. The quartet played together at Villanova University, and had a lot of success together at that level.

Some feel like the Knicks may have broken NBA rules using their Villanova connections. USA Today noted that Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo posted on social media, “Y’all was tampering!” after the trade was announced.

Former Villanova head coach Jay Wright was thrilled to see his four former players reunited on the same NBA team. USA Today noted that Wright posted this after the deal was announced: “Boys are blessed to be together. No one ever gets this opportunity in the NBA. A lot of work to do. Let’s go!”

What’s interesting is that before the trade went down, Hart and Brunson had been poking fun at Bridges’ less than ideal situation with Brooklyn. Earlier in June, Sports Illustrated brought up Hart’s social media comment to Bridges, where Hart wrote “if they (the Nets) have you hostage, just blink and we’ll save you.”

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As it that wasn’t enough, Brunson responded to an old joke Bridges made about Brunson having a large head by saying, “Mikal is built like a string bean. He looks like E.T. And Mikal is still on the Nets, so…” Brunson made the quips on a podcast with Taylor Rooks.

While it has been fun and games between Bridges and his former college teammates, the real work will begin this offseason as the group looks to get the Knicks to a place they haven’t been in over 50 years. New York last won an NBA title in 1973, and this trade brings them closer to ending one of the longest championship droughts in professional sports.

Remarkably, Mikal Bridges has not missed a single game in his entire six-year NBA career. In a league that is often discussed with regard to players missing contests for spurious reasons, Bridges is a player who has taken pride in suiting up in every possible contest. It helps justify the Knicks’ massive package to acquire him, figuring that he’ll be available each night.

It became apparent in Brooklyn that Bridges probably isn’t a legitimate number one scoring option in the NBA, but that’s not what he’ll be asked to provide with the Knicks. He can fit in as another solid option on that end of the floor. Bridges’ scoring contributions might mirror the type of output he had with the Phoenix Suns earlier in his NBA career.

He’s also a well-regarded defender, having made the NBA’s all-defensive team during the 2021-2022 campaign. The 6’6” forward may have nights in New York where he gets a smattering of shot attempts, but does an effective job limiting the opponent’s best offensive player. That would be a welcome trend for the Knicks, especially if they can’t re-sign O.G. Anunoby.

The Heat and their fans might feel a little bit spurned by the Bridges trade. In addition to Adebayo’s comments about potential tampering, Sportskeeda focused on social media reaction, admonishing team president Pat Riley for bringing Bridges to South Beach.

The New York Knicks were the number two seed in the Eastern Conference this past season, but their position heading into the postseason next year will be of less importance. The Mikal Bridges trade signals that the franchise is looking to win a title in the near future, which should allow them to compete more favorably with the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series.

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