Over the last 12 months, there hasn’t been a player more enigmatic and polarizing than Mikal Bridges. And it all started the very instant he became a Knick. When New York’s acquisition of Bridges was first announced, it was just minutes before a large divide not only within the Knicks fanbase, but within the entirety of the league surfaced. Some thought that while five first-round picks were a lot for someone of Bridges’ caliber, it was the perfect opportunity to complement a great roster with one of the best three-and-d players in the league while keeping their superstar point guard happy by pairing him up with yet another former Villanova teammate.
But there were also just as many people who thought that the Knicks had undone all of their previous years of patience by overpaying for a solid, but non-player player-something that many believed would be the only fair return for a package that included so many picks.
As the season started and his time as a Knick grew longer and longer, so did the list of people who traded in their “I believe in Bridges” card for a membership in the doubter club. What truly made watching Bridges’ season so frustrating, though, is the fact that we saw glimpses of the Bridges we thought we were getting. There were nights, even multiple game stretches, where the former Phoenix Sun and Brooklyn Net looked like the premier perimeter defender who was capable of going off for 20 to 25 points on any given night. But there just weren’t nearly enough of those nights to warrant the games where he looked completely lost and broken--of which there were many.
Now, Bridges did his best to redeem himself in the postseason, where he made maybe two of the most memorable and important plays of the entire season in the Boston series when he capped off back-to-back comeback victories on the road with a pair of game-winning defensive plays. But when the season came to a disappointing and frustrating end at the hands of the Indiana Pacers for a second straight year, questions surrounding Bridges, his play, and his future in New York quickly arose. When the dust and the immediate emotions of the season coming to an end settled, people wondered once again, and louder than ever, why Bridges had struggled so much, and if he had a long-term future as a Knick.
Truth be told, those questions still don’t have clear answers. We won’t know until the trade deadline if Bridges will be here come playoff time next year, and we won’t know at least for another few months if Bridges’ struggles came from a new environment, incompatibility with Tom Thibodeau, or if this is just who he is.
But if I were to guess, I do think Bridges plays better than he did last season. That isn’t to say the overall numbers look considerably better per se. If you look at his counting stats, they were around what most people would’ve predicted. 17.6 PPG, 3.7 APG, and 3.2 RPG on 50% shooting from the field is a very solid player to have as your third, and on some nights, fourth option.
And honestly, it just comes down to me just having a hard time believing that a player who was always a good defender, and a 38.4% three-point shooter in the four seasons prior, will stay this inconsistent on both sides of the ball. Confident? That may be a bit too strong a word. But I am hopeful.
I am hopeful that in his second year in New York, playing alongside best friends Josh Hart and the aforementioned Brunson, Bridges can be a bit more comfortable and confident. I am also hopeful that his teammates, after a full season of playing alongside Bridges, can also get better at putting him in the best positions to succeed. And last but not least, I am hopeful that incoming head coach, Mike Brown, can implement a more fast-paced and ball-movement-focused offense that will keep Bridges more active and engaged.
And with that added activity and involvement on offense, there is the optimism that he’ll be a bit more consistently present on the defensive end as well. Because again, it’s not like Bridges forgot how to play defense, or that he suffered a major injury that would limit or impact his mental or physical capacity to be the defender we saw him be in Phoenix. And again, we saw occasional sightings of the old, or I guess I should say younger, Bridges. Whether it’s the game-winning blocks in the regular season, the handful of moments he got up in Trae Young’s face and defended with the requisite physicality, or his aforementioned defense against the Celtics in the playoffs, we all know that it’s in there somewhere.
The key for this coaching staff, and the players, will be unlocking Bridges’ mental and physical ability to keep that up nightly, and when the playoff comes, on a possession-by-possession basis. It’s probably the most important piece to the Knicks’ championship puzzle outside of maximizing Karl-Anthony Towns’ offensive abilities.
My final prediction for Bridges is that he looks better and puts up similar, maybe better numbers, but on better efficiency, while also being a better defender. I will say, though, that I’m not sure he ever fully returns to the best version of himself. And I’d be surprised if he went through a full season without having the kinds of head-scratching, head-tilting, and headache-inducing stretches that last season was riddled with. But I, partly in an attempt to speak it into existence, am going out on a limb and saying that we’ll see much less of it with the hope that Brown and his coaching staff can make Bridges’ offensive effectiveness and aggressiveness one of their priorities.
There are admittedly a lot of things that need to go right. Bridges needs to find the mental toughness to put last season behind him. He needs to find the balance of buying into his role as a Knick while also finding the confidence to stay aggressive and engaged. He needs to attack closeouts more. He needs to get to the rim more, instead of settling for the midrange shot, no matter how automatic the shot feels at times. He needs to regain his confidence and effectiveness from three. And he needs to defend in a way that he remains a net positive on the floor even when his shot isn’t falling.
Now, I know that’s a lot to ask for, but they’re all things we’ve seen from Bridges at times. Will we see him do all those things every game? Doubtful. Is he going to become an All-Star? Unlikely. But we just need him to get close to the connective third or fourth option who can hit open shots, defend on the perimeter, and do so more times than not. And if, yes, that’s a big if, he can do that, then the Knicks have a really good shot at playing in the finals. Overall, I see him averaging 18+ PPG, and shooting a bit worse overall, but shooting 47% from the field, 37% from three, and 85% from the line, but doing so looking happier, more engaged, and more confident.
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