Analyst Slams Knicks for Mikal Bridges

The New York Knicks are being scrutinized after trading five first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges.

While the Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference Finals with Bridges on board, they still missed their goal of winning the NBA Finals.

Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes graded the Bridges trade a year later, giving the Knicks a "D-" for their role in the deal.

"The Knicks clearly viewed Bridges as a missing piece, though most of the league probably felt similarly about such a scaleable three-and-D player with just two years and $48.2 million left on the extension he signed in 2022. New York's willingness to part with such a shocking number of first-round picks for a non-star set it apart — and it also resulted in a deal that is now the standard against which others are measured," Hughes wrote.

"Bridges was mostly fine for the Knicks last year, though his scoring average and three-point accuracy (17.6 points and 35.4 percent, respectively) fell short of where they were in Brooklyn and his later years in Phoenix."

"If Bridges re-ups on a below-market extension worth just $156.5 million over four years, this deal will look better. But if he winds up holding out for a max worth much more than that in 2026 free agency, or if the the Knicks determine they have to trade him this season to avoid that possibility, this grade could slip even lower."

The Knicks traded a king's ransom for Bridges even though he isn't projected to be their best player, or even their second-best.

If the Knicks didn't even have Bridges for more than two seasons, it would be an opportunity missed to put it nicely.

To put it in a more realistic way, it would be a colossal mistake that would force the Knicks to move several steps backward in their journey towards winning a championship.