Mikal Bridges trade gave Knicks and Nets what each wanted

Knicks forward Mikal Bridges gestures after scoring a three-point basket against the Nets in the first half of an NBA game at Barclays Center on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Some players will pressure their agents, listen to friends and family and say a prayer at night for a chance like Mikal Bridges had in Brooklyn. His was a chance to be the No. 1 option and the star of an NBA team.
He had served as a sidekick to Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton in Phoenix before the trade that sent him to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant in February 2023. And while some players might have been content, it was easy to see Bridges would have preferred to be a part of what he saw across the river. His former college teammates and friends were united on a winning team.
So when the Knicks and Nets swung a trade for the first time in more than 40 years to acquire Bridges for a package of five first-round picks and an unprotected pick swap, some might have bristled. It would return Bridges to a complementary role. But Bridges was happy to just fit in again.
“I think players have different roles,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I think on every team, you have to ask everyone to sacrifice for the betterment of the team. That’s what I respect about Mikal. I think in Phoenix they had a lot of success and he sort of found his way there. And it was a different role [with the Nets] and a different role [with the Knicks].
“But still, all the things that he’s done well in Phoenix and he did well here [with Nets], he’s doing well for us. So prioritize the team and sometimes we’re asking guys to not necessarily do what might be best for themselves versus what’s best for our team and he’s embraced that. He’s done a terrific job.”
There were no hard feelings on either side. The Nets got what they needed, a bevy of draft picks to assist their rebuilding efforts after they’d been cleaned out of picks in earlier deals. And Bridges got what he wanted: to be part of a team again rather than the centerpiece.
“It’ll be just good to be back,” Bridges said about his return to Barclays Center. “To see my teammates and the coaching staff that was there for a couple months before I got traded. See the staff and everybody. Good energy.”
“Mikal was part of our club and now he’s not so he’s the enemy,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez joked. “I have a lot of respect for him. Very good player. I had the opportunity to play against him with the Canadian national team in the World Cup. Then I had him here, got to know him, for whatever it was, weeks.
“Lot of respect for him as a professional, great at communicating . . . What I’ve seen from him and he keeps doing it now, high-level basketball player. Obviously it is a rivalry, we want to beat them as they want to beat us. Rivalries are great for basketball.”
It would be hard for the Nets to be unhappy with what they got from Bridges. As always, he played every game, which is not a given for teams headed toward the lottery. In the 27 games after the trade, he averaged a career-high 26.1 points per game. The number dipped to 19.6 last season.
With the Knicks, Bridges has taken a backseat to Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. The trio of Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart are tasked with much of the dirty work and occasionally filling in the gaps offensively. Bridges put up a 41-point performance on Christmas Day, but he’s also had seven games of 10 points or less.
The Knicks will take the offensive ups and downs as long as he also contributes nights like he did Monday when he served as the primary defender, frustrating the Hawks' Trae Young.
“It’s a good challenge,” Bridges said. “That’s what I'm here for. That’s what I get paid for. And like I always said, I got my teammates behind me so it’s never just me against that guy. So it’s just team defense and try my best to try to disrupt.”