Mikal Bridges

[bronxknicksfan1]

Lol I doubt that, I can't foresee the "all-in" Knicks getting out of the East, you're probably the 4th best team behind Celtics, Cavs, and Bucks

Knicks have been humming for the last 15 games after a slowish start.

3rd best Net Rating. Best in the East. Defense has been getting really good too. It's all gonna come down to who's the healthiest at the end, but if the Knicks can get to the playoffs with their Top 8 guys healthy then I think they matchup well and can beat anyone.

Fair enough. But I also see the Bucks on a run and Celtics are defending champs, and Cavs have taken a major step up. That's not counting Magic once they get healthy (and are also improved). I think Knicks are very good right now but they're also benefitting from playing guys insane minutes in reg season. Knicks have 3 guys in the top 10 right now for minutes per game. No other team has more than 1 in the top 10. That advantage goes away in postseason.

Benefitting from playing too many minutes? That’s a new one. Knicks haven’t had much time to gel and aren’t fully healthy yet, but have the best offense and a top 15 defense that was bottom 10 not too long ago. If anything, we’re just getting glimpse of what the team could potentially be.

[Mr Peanut]

I think he's well suited to his role on the Knicks and can play to his strengths more than what was expected of him in Brooklyn.

Also people underestimate the health aspect/the fact that he literally never misses any games. It's such an important factor. He was only drafted a year before Zion and has now played 311 more games than him. That is ludicrous.

[cgf]

Knicks have been humming for the last 15 games after a slowish start.

3rd best Net Rating. Best in the East. Defense has been getting really good too. It's all gonna come down to who's the healthiest at the end, but if the Knicks can get to the playoffs with their Top 8 guys healthy then I think they matchup well and can beat anyone.

Fair enough. But I also see the Bucks on a run and Celtics are defending champs, and Cavs have taken a major step up. That's not counting Magic once they get healthy (and are also improved). I think Knicks are very good right now but they're also benefitting from playing guys insane minutes in reg season. Knicks have 3 guys in the top 10 right now for minutes per game. No other team has more than 1 in the top 10. That advantage goes away in postseason.

Benefitting from playing too many minutes? That’s a new one. Knicks haven’t had much time to gel and aren’t fully healthy yet, but have the best offense and a top 15 defense that was bottom 10 not too long ago. If anything, we’re just getting glimpse of what the team could potentially be.

I also suspect that we’ll see those minutes dialed back as the core guys gel & we get healthier. With how little practice time teams have, I wouldn’t be surprised if Thibs was trying to compensate by giving them more time together in games.

Plus we started the season with just 7 of our 9 reliable rotation guys healthy…with those 7 picking up some knocks along the way.

[Scalabrine]

Giving up a decades worth of assets for a guy who's not even putting up All Star quality numbers is reason to overreact.

Decades? They gave up 5 first rounds picks, which they had a surplus of. They also gave up nothing in terms of players. Bogdanovic was the only player and he still hasn't played this year.

Bridges has been excellent after a bad start. He's been everything you could ask of for a 3rd option. Knicks have two legit 3rd options between him and OG. KAT and Brunson have been fantastic as well.

Would love to add another bench piece, but Shamet and Robinson are both supposed to be back in the next few weeks and are both capable of getting solid rotation minutes.

It's kinda funny how much people obsess over way in the future 1st round picks. Pretty sure Cleveland fans think every day "Man if only we wouldn't have traded all those picks for Donovan Mitchell and be a contender right now. Instead we could still be a 1st round exit team and have a lot of sexy early 20 1st rounders the next few years."

Those future picks are basically Bitcoin you exchange for star players at this point. Houston sent Chris Paul, a pick swap and 3 first rounders to OKC for Westbrook in 2019. On paper an absolute horrible trade. Pick swap didn't happen, the first 1st rounder was Topic this season as 12th pick. In the meantime, Houston did a full rebuild through draft picks and finished with that before any of those picks were even used.

Great points. Slightly different in this case because the Knicks are theoretically gonna have this core for the next 4-5 years and then you'd imagine they'd have to pivot. At that point, they'll still owe two picks to the Nets. I trust Leon Rose and crew though. They aren't gonna tank and they'll keep a competitive team out there.

[Scalabrine]

I think he's well suited to his role on the Knicks and can play to his strengths more than what was expected of him in Brooklyn.

Also people underestimate the health aspect/the fact that he literally never misses any games. It's such an important factor. He was only drafted a year before Zion and has now played 311 more games than him. That is ludicrous.

It is ludicrous but something feels weird about comparing the biggest iron man in the league vs. probably the most injury prone one.

[Rockazoids]

I think this is the perfect spot for this form.

[Mr Peanut]

I think he's well suited to his role on the Knicks and can play to his strengths more than what was expected of him in Brooklyn.

Also people underestimate the health aspect/the fact that he literally never misses any games. It's such an important factor. He was only drafted a year before Zion and has now played 311 more games than him. That is ludicrous.

It is ludicrous but something feels weird about comparing the biggest iron man in the league vs. probably the most injury prone one.

Yeah I was just trying to show the scale of how many games he had played since he was drafted, but Zion is definitely the other end of the spectrum so maybe not the best comparison.

Let's take Trae Young who was drafted in the same class then - has had a few injuries but wouldn't be considered an "injury prone" player. Bridges has still played 67 games more than him - almost a full season.

[Karate Diop]

I think this is the perfect spot for this form.

As I said elsewhere, Bridges is a great fit for the Knicks... But this is a pretty hilarious take.

Cam Johnson has been better than Bridges this year... Hell, if we're being objective, Cam Johnson has played better as a lead this year than Bridges did last year

If you get traded for 5 firsts, you're going to invite criticism when your level of play isn't even matching the level of play of Cam Johnson...

[og15]

I think he's well suited to his role on the Knicks and can play to his strengths more than what was expected of him in Brooklyn.

Also people underestimate the health aspect/the fact that he literally never misses any games. It's such an important factor. He was only drafted a year before Zion and has now played 311 more games than him. That is ludicrous.

I love his durability, has great genetics for the NBA, but Zion is also the easiest comparison for anyone's durability

[Rockazoids]

I think this is the perfect spot for this form.

As I said elsewhere, Bridges is a great fit for the Knicks... But this is a pretty hilarious take.

Cam Johnson has been better than Bridges this year... Hell, if we're being objective, Cam Johnson has played better as a lead this year than Bridges did last year

If you get traded for 5 firsts, you're going to invite criticism when your level of play isn't even matching the level of play of Cam Johnson...

Part of the cost for bridges was his low salary, we'll just have to wait and see if one of them picks turn into Jaylen Brown.

[toodarkmark]

As a Knicks fan I was excited when he was traded to the Knicks, although it was probably one or two 1st rounders too many, that was the cost of doing business with the New Jersey Nets, who haven't done biz with the Knicks since 1982. So people kept harping on the picks when Mikal was getting suited to the Knicks, when he was playing bad and trying to figure out his spot, but I didn't give an s about the picks or his early play. I've seen what he brings at his time at Villanova and in that Phoenix run to the finals. He's a dawg and he's already turned into an important part of the team. Barring injury he's a decade long contributor.

And I've been a Knicks fan since 1987, and I am fully aware of how badly the Knicks have done in the 1st round of the draft. In fact, the Knicks gave zero of their 1st rounders with playing time on the team. Brunson signed as a FA, KAT was in a trade for two players who signed as FAs, Hart traded for, OG traded for, Precious traded for, McBride a 2nd, Robinson a 2nd, Simms a 2nd, Payne a FA. Hart was right when he said Mikal was traded for 5 high schoolers.

The Mikal slander will be back, because sports fans have their negative takes, but not me. Mikal is part of a championship team if the chips fall correctly, and he's been showing it on both sides of the ball in the last 20 games. Even if the same media that non stopped attacked his bad play is ignoring his good play, because negative takes are where the money is.

[Scalabrine]

I think this is the perfect spot for this form.

As I said elsewhere, Bridges is a great fit for the Knicks... But this is a pretty hilarious take.

Cam Johnson has been better than Bridges this year... Hell, if we're being objective, Cam Johnson has played better as a lead this year than Bridges did last year

If you get traded for 5 firsts, you're going to invite criticism when your level of play isn't even matching the level of play of Cam Johnson...

You don't watch the Knicks so stop acting like you know more than everyone. I'm not gonna sit here and act like I watch the Nets and can speak on how good Cam Johnson has been this year, but the two players are very very different situations right now so comparing them is really dumb. I think you're smart enough to know that, but you're such a troll that you can't help yourself.

[Karate Diop]

I think this is the perfect spot for this form.

As I said elsewhere, Bridges is a great fit for the Knicks... But this is a pretty hilarious take.

Cam Johnson has been better than Bridges this year... Hell, if we're being objective, Cam Johnson has played better as a lead this year than Bridges did last year

If you get traded for 5 firsts, you're going to invite criticism when your level of play isn't even matching the level of play of Cam Johnson...

You don't watch the Knicks so stop acting like you know more than everyone. I'm not gonna sit here and act like I watch the Nets and can speak on how good Cam Johnson has been this year, but the two players are very very different situations right now so comparing them is really dumb. I think you're smart enough to know that, but you're such a troll that you can't help yourself.

I do watch the Knicks, I just don't claim to watch every single Knicks game.

You also seem to be missing the point... With significantly more defensive attention on him, on a worse team, Johnson is outperforming Bridges.

Compared to when Bridges was in a leading role last year, Johnson has also been playing at or above the same level... Maybe things change as the season progresses, but the criticism of Mikal to start the year / the last few years has been warranted.

He's seemingly started to find his groove for Manhattan, which will allow him to be the plus player I always expected him to be for them, but there isn't andom "hating" of Bridges... It's all been justified.

[cgf]

As I said elsewhere, Bridges is a great fit for the Knicks... But this is a pretty hilarious take.

Cam Johnson has been better than Bridges this year... Hell, if we're being objective, Cam Johnson has played better as a lead this year than Bridges did last year

If you get traded for 5 firsts, you're going to invite criticism when your level of play isn't even matching the level of play of Cam Johnson...

You don't watch the Knicks so stop acting like you know more than everyone. I'm not gonna sit here and act like I watch the Nets and can speak on how good Cam Johnson has been this year, but the two players are very very different situations right now so comparing them is really dumb. I think you're smart enough to know that, but you're such a troll that you can't help yourself.

I do watch the Knicks, I just don't claim to watch every single Knicks game.

You also seem to be missing the point... With significantly more defensive attention on him, on a worse team, Johnson is outperforming Bridges.

Compared to when Bridges was in a leading role last year, Johnson has also been playing at or above the same level... Maybe things change as the season progresses, but the criticism of Mikal to start the year / the last few years has been warranted.

He's seemingly started to find his groove for Manhattan, which will allow him to be the plus player I always expected him to be for them, but there isn't andom "hating" of Bridges... It's all been justified.

Is this the same way Mikal "played like an allstar after being traded to Brooklyn"? Or have Nets fans forgotten how many variants of that line we had to hear?

[toodarkmark]

You don't watch the Knicks so stop acting like you know more than everyone. I'm not gonna sit here and act like I watch the Nets and can speak on how good Cam Johnson has been this year, but the two players are very very different situations right now so comparing them is really dumb. I think you're smart enough to know that, but you're such a troll that you can't help yourself.

I do watch the Knicks, I just don't claim to watch every single Knicks game.

You also seem to be missing the point... With significantly more defensive attention on him, on a worse team, Johnson is outperforming Bridges.

Compared to when Bridges was in a leading role last year, Johnson has also been playing at or above the same level... Maybe things change as the season progresses, but the criticism of Mikal to start the year / the last few years has been warranted.

He's seemingly started to find his groove for Manhattan, which will allow him to be the plus player I always expected him to be for them, but there isn't andom "hating" of Bridges... It's all been justified.

Is this the same way Mikal "played like an allstar after being traded to Brooklyn"? Or have Nets fans forgotten how many variants of that line we had to hear?

https://www.si.com/nba/nets/news/mikal-bridges-credits-the-entire-nets-as-all-star-potential-continues-to-emerge

It's crazy how people forget. I just looked at two Mikal might be an all star next year posts on Reddit by Brooklyn fans in 2023.

I also looked up Cam and it's stories about playing for a rebuilding team and trade interest from other teams.

[Johnny Bball]

Spoiler:

Giving up a decades worth of assets for a guy who's not even putting up All Star quality numbers is reason to overreact.

Decades? They gave up 5 first rounds picks, which they had a surplus of. They also gave up nothing in terms of players. Bogdanovic was the only player and he still hasn't played this year.

Bridges has been excellent after a bad start. He's been everything you could ask of for a 3rd option. Knicks have two legit 3rd options between him and OG. KAT and Brunson have been fantastic as well.

Would love to add another bench piece, but Shamet and Robinson are both supposed to be back in the next few weeks and are both capable of getting solid rotation minutes.

It's kinda funny how much people obsess over way in the future 1st round picks. Pretty sure Cleveland fans think every day "Man if only we wouldn't have traded all those picks for Donovan Mitchell and be a contender right now. Instead we could still be a 1st round exit team and have a lot of sexy early 20 1st rounders the next few years."

This describes half of RGM that has been raised to have close to zero risk tolerance and can see only one path. You're not wrong, just saying.

[Karate Diop]

I do watch the Knicks, I just don't claim to watch every single Knicks game.

You also seem to be missing the point... With significantly more defensive attention on him, on a worse team, Johnson is outperforming Bridges.

Compared to when Bridges was in a leading role last year, Johnson has also been playing at or above the same level... Maybe things change as the season progresses, but the criticism of Mikal to start the year / the last few years has been warranted.

He's seemingly started to find his groove for Manhattan, which will allow him to be the plus player I always expected him to be for them, but there isn't andom "hating" of Bridges... It's all been justified.

Is this the same way Mikal "played like an allstar after being traded to Brooklyn"? Or have Nets fans forgotten how many variants of that line we had to hear?

https://www.si.com/nba/nets/news/mikal-bridges-credits-the-entire-nets-as-all-star-potential-continues-to-emerge

It's crazy how people forget. I just looked at two Mikal might be an all star next year posts on Reddit by Brooklyn fans in 2023.

I also looked up Cam and it's stories about playing for a rebuilding team and trade interest from other teams.

After the initial trade he played at the highest level of his career. The following season - for whatever reason he couldn't sustain that level of play. If he had been able to sustain that initial level of play he most certainly would have been in the all-star conversation. It's not that hard to understand...

Bridges is still a great player.

[ArksNetsSince99]

If Mitchell would have bolted from Cleveland damn right they would have said "if only we had our draft picks..."

I am not against going and getting your guy, but paying a superstar price for a glorified role player is dumb, no matter how it ends up playing out.

I respect the premise of "don't overpay", but the Knicks will likely get team-friendly extensions for Brunson (already done), Bridges & Hart. The Knicks can use the cap space for already establish piece to strengthen their team which could be more valuable than draft picks.

Yeah, pretty much. Things can go wrong. Things have gone wrong for some teams, as the mentioned Rockets. It is still relatively easy to bounce back if you make the right moves at the right time.

It's similar with cap space. On paper OKC did a crazy overpay for Hartenstein this offseason. It still made sense since this might be the last time the next few years they had the chance to make a big offseason signing, they could weaken another up and coming team and they addressed a need. Until now he looks as if he might even justify the offer based on his performance alone.

In the end having a successful team involves decisions similar to playing a poker game. You won't go anywhere if you have the winning hand each round but fold because you are afraid to put your chips in the middle.

As you said, there were reasons beyound Bridges performance to make this trade, like the Villanova connection, him being a guy that never misses games when we already have some injury prone players, him already being part of a team that made it to the finals. Were the amount of draft picks an overpay? Most likely yes. Could we afford it? Since we had spent otherwise zero 1st rounders on any player that was on our roster the last 2 seasons before, definitely. Every other player was either drafted, a free agent signing, or came through a trade that didn't involve any 1st rounders. Bridges and KAT were the first 2 and it made sense, since we had the foundation to become a contender, so the right moment to go all in. If you see it from the perspective that overall it cost us 6 future 1st rounders to trade for KAT, OG and Bridges, it already sounds a bit different.

Yeah good analogy and explanation

You bought Ferrari and Maclaren for 5 bucks each ( Kat OG )

Then the deal was so good you took this old rusty Ford for 500K ( Bridges)

[vincecarter4pres]

As a Knicks fan I was excited when he was traded to the Knicks, although it was probably one or two 1st rounders too many, that was the cost of doing business with the New Jersey Nets, who haven't done biz with the Knicks since 1982. So people kept harping on the picks when Mikal was getting suited to the Knicks, when he was playing bad and trying to figure out his spot, but I didn't give an s about the picks or his early play. I've seen what he brings at his time at Villanova and in that Phoenix run to the finals. He's a dawg and he's already turned into an important part of the team. Barring injury he's a decade long contributor.

And I've been a Knicks fan since 1987, and I am fully aware of how badly the Knicks have done in the 1st round of the draft. In fact, the Knicks gave zero of their 1st rounders with playing time on the team. Brunson signed as a FA, KAT was in a trade for two players who signed as FAs, Hart traded for, OG traded for, Precious traded for, McBride a 2nd, Robinson a 2nd, Simms a 2nd, Payne a FA. Hart was right when he said Mikal was traded for 5 high schoolers.

The Mikal slander will be back, because sports fans have their negative takes, but not me. Mikal is part of a championship team if the chips fall correctly, and he's been showing it on both sides of the ball in the last 20 games. Even if the same media that non stopped attacked his bad play is ignoring his good play, because negative takes are where the money is.

Out of curiosity, are you a Giants or Jets fan?

[vincecarter4pres]

I think this is the perfect spot for this form.

As I said elsewhere, Bridges is a great fit for the Knicks... But this is a pretty hilarious take.

Cam Johnson has been better than Bridges this year... Hell, if we're being objective, Cam Johnson has played better as a lead this year than Bridges did last year

If you get traded for 5 firsts, you're going to invite criticism when your level of play isn't even matching the level of play of Cam Johnson...

Part of the cost for bridges was his low salary, we'll just have to wait and see if one of them picks turn into Jaylen Brown.

Oooh, sick burn!