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Buyer’s remorse: Knicks didn’t trade 5 1sts for this version of Mikal Bridges

The Mikal Bridges era has not gotten off to the start Knicks fans expected.

By Zachary Rotman

Sep 30, 2024; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges speaks during a media day press conference at the MSG training facility in Tarrytown, NY. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Sep 30, 2024; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges speaks during a media day press conference at the MSG training facility in Tarrytown, NY. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Coming off one of their best seasons in decades, the New York Knicks had a massive offseason, trading not only for Karl-Anthony Towns, but acquiring Mikal Bridges a couple of months earlier.

Towns is a quality addition, but the big prize was Bridges, who was acquired in a deal with their crosstown rivals, the Brooklyn Nets. For the Knicks to pry Bridges away from their biggest rivals they'd have to pay the price, and Leon Rose did just that, parting with five unprotected first-round picks along with several other assets to acquire Bridges. That was New York's big all-in move, proving that they're trying to win a championship starting this season.

The Knicks had a prime opportunity to prove that their major moves were the right ones to make on Opening Night with a matchup against the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics on the docket. It has not gone to plan, and Bridges' struggles have played a major role in that.

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Knicks have reason to feel early buyer's remorse thanks to Mikal Bridges' struggles

The first half of this game was about as ugly as any Knicks fan could've imagined. The team trailed by 19, and Bridges struggled mightily on both ends of the court, going 0-for-5 from the field and 0-for-4 from three-point range. His new-look shot had been at the center of attention leading into this game, and has been featured in the worst possible way thus far.

Bridges changing his jump shot after he had been a solid, if not very good three-point shooter for his career doesn't make much sense, and is not something that the Knicks expected when pulling the trigger on this deal.

As if his shooting woes weren't concerning enough, Bridges hasn't been good on the defensive side of the ball either. Jayson Tatum has looked like one of the best players in the world, which is not what Knicks fans wanted to see when they traded a haul to acquire a player who was the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up in the 2021-22 season. Bridges was supposed to help contain players like Tatum, but did nothing to slow him down in the slightest.

Bridges did get things going on the offensive side of the ball in the second half, but a large chunk of those points came when the game was effectively out of reach. Again, not what the Knicks expected.

Is this rough night going to be the norm for Bridges? Almost certainly no. He's a great two-way player who should play better as he gets more comfortable with his new team. With that being said, though, this game was concerning. When the game was close, Bridges was a no-show. The Knicks were embarrassed against the team they were supposed to be competing with in the Eastern Conference. It's better to see this now, in Game 1 instead of in the playoffs, but this just isn't what New York expected when they traded its entire future for Bridges.

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