BREAKING: Shams: Mikal Bridges Agrees to 4-yr/$150M Extension with the New York Knicks

[Bucks4005]

Not sure how people are like 'oooh that contract" when Anunoby got more and isn't any better. In any case, it's another overpay for a role player, but the Knicks have their #1 (Brunson) and #2 (KAT) in place, so overpaying for elite role players who fit is the correct decision, especially since the East is pretty weak and even more wide open now that the Celtics have dismantled their team and Tatum will miss most (if not all) of next season.

The problem is Mikal and OG are the same player meaning both 3&D wings who can’t create their own offense. The Knicks are now paying $80m/yr for this.

OG is more of a 4/3 defender. Mikal a 3/2.

Yea, and the difference is OG can probably better switch on a 2-3-4 due to his extra weight and bulk, Bridges size makes him more a 2-3 defender.

[TheGOATRises007]

Ridiculous money.

[durden_tyler]

These are the players who earn in that $35-$40M range:

OG Anunoby
Darius Garland
Ja Morant
Zion Williamson
James Harden
Scottie Barnes
Franz Wagner
Shai Gilgeous Alexander
Michael Porter
Brandon Ingram
LaMelo Ball
Tyrese Maxey
Bam Adebayo
De'Aaron Fox
Desmond Bane
Kyrie Irving
Rudy Gobert
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Jalen Suggs

The Knicks did fine, Bridges is above or on the tier of most of the players above.

[sashaturiaf]

Overpaid. NYK will live to regret this one, he's not a difference maker

[doogie_hauser]

I think Bridges will enjoy playing/be better offensively in Mike Brown's system.

Also is pretty durable, never suffered any serious injuries/missed any significant stretches of game, which is pretty important when giving out these type of extensions.

There is definitely worse contracts in the league for sure.

[3toheadmelo]

Overpaid. NYK will live to regret this one, he's not a difference maker

Did you abandon your nets to follow KD?

[Karate Diop]

What were they going to do? Their hands were tied. They need to take advantage of other teams being injured because this is their only shot...

[cgf]

Nice to get this out of the way. We saw last spring what a force OG & Mikal can be in the playoffs.

[bonita_the_frog]

Bridges scored 21.2 points per game for Brooklyn (109 games) so why doesn't he score more than 17.6ppg for New Yorky?
And Bridges scoring (and shooting) is way better at Madison Square Garden (19.6ppg .516fg) than on the road (15.6ppg .482fg), so can't be because of pressure...

[Profound23]

was holding out hope he’d be traded for giannis.. not a bad deal

Still possible with Brunson, OG, KAT, every pick they can possibly traded, and 10% of the team.

[TheNG]

Availability is the best ability. At least they can count on him to be on the floor when it matters.

Read on Twitter

I wouldn't want a player that goes to a game my team is not playing

[knicksfan974]

Overpaid. NYK will live to regret this one, he's not a difference maker

He'll be a key piece on the Knicks championship run during the '25-'26 season.

[doogie_hauser]

was holding out hope he’d be traded for giannis.. not a bad deal

Still possible with Brunson, OG, KAT, every pick they can possibly traded, and 10% of the team.

What would be the point of that from a Giannis perspective? From a talent perspective, if that traded happened, Giannis would be in a worse situation at New York than he currently is at The Knicks.

Anyhow as DaGawd reported earlier, Giannis is happy and content at Milwaukee and won't be asking for a trade.

Also Brunson should never be traded by the Knicks, he has made them a power again and he left so much money on the table to help The Knicks build a contending team. You don't trade guys like that (unless it's for a pipe dream like Wemby which would never happen)

[Ryoga Hibiki]

~$37.5m per season seems a bit steep with the current CBA but they are committed to this roster now and it’s good enough to get to the finals.

I really recommend to stop looking at this contract as "per season averages", to understand the CBA implications. It's totally misleading.
They should be looked as "% of the cap%, and Mikal is going to be at little more than 20% of it.
That's the equivalent of making 28.5m in 2025, worth something around the 55th highest salary.

[garrick]

It's a slight overpay but when players like Jalen Green are making 35M per season it's not too bad of a deal and at least you're getting an ironman that has never missed a single game in his entire career.

Having said that I do wish he would actually sit out some games as there are times where he seems to get gassed or lack enough energy probably because he gets zero rest and he would be more effective if he could strategically sit out maybe 10 games per season at least towards the latter half of the season when games become less meaningful.

[NYPiston]

he is a 25M player but they had to pay him close to 40...well not a lot they can do.

He's worth way more than $25m, do people not realize that the cap is rising? This deal is fair value in the current market.

[Froob]

These are the players who earn in that $35-$40M range:

OG Anunoby
Darius Garland
Ja Morant
Zion Williamson
James Harden
Scottie Barnes
Franz Wagner
Shai Gilgeous Alexander
Michael Porter
Brandon Ingram
LaMelo Ball
Tyrese Maxey
Bam Adebayo
De'Aaron Fox
Desmond Bane
Kyrie Irving
Rudy Gobert
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Jalen Suggs

The Knicks did fine, Bridges is above or on the tier of most of the players above.

Yeah it's not terrible, but I don't really want both OG and Bridges on that money. I'd rather just have Bridges and dump OG.

[kenwood3333]

Key role players getting paid near max money. Players in Indiana takes notice.

[hauntedcomputer]

~$37.5m per season seems a bit steep with the current CBA but they are committed to this roster now and it’s good enough to get to the finals.

I really recommend to stop looking at this contract as "per season averages", to understand the CBA implications. It's totally misleading.
They should be looked as "% of the cap%, and Mikal is going to be at little more than 20% of it.
That's the equivalent of making 28.5m in 2025, worth something around the 55th highest salary.

Yeah 20 percent seems about right-- he's like one-fifth the value of your team. Problem is KAT is overpaid, but Brunson is cheap, then 20 percent to OG and you have less than 20 percent for the rest of the roster but of course you're going to overpay because the luxury tax doesn't matter. Just avoid the second apron.

Kind of like those fantasy teams where you have $100 budget....you would happily pay 20 for Mikal Bridges.

[Froob]

kinda surprised knicks didn’t explore trading robinson while his value was highest. can they really afford to pay him?