Mikal Bridges Striving For Efficiency With New York Knicks

9 min read
Sep 23, 2024, 11:05 AM
Mikal Bridges

Mikal Bridges // Credit: nba.com/knicks

 

Eager to itch the scratch of getting back to work after a long summer, New York Knicks swingman Mikal Bridges will be on his third different team in as many years going into October’s training camp.

“Crazy. I would've thought I was the last person to be traded all the time,” Bridges told RG.org in an exclusive phone interview. “It kinda started when I was in Phoenix. I thought I probably never was gonna leave Phoenix.

“Being the type of player I am, I feel like I'm kinda in a glue role usually a team would trade for or would trade to give up [a lot]. But once that starts, once you get traded once, now it's like it's gonna be continuous. But hopefully, things go great [in New York] and I don't gotta keep moving teams.”

So far, so good. Bridges has been working out at the practice facility since the day he was dealt to the Knicks.

“It's dope, man,” Bridges said. “Obviously, I wasn't there last year; I’m hearing 'em talk about last year, how everybody wants to win and get better. It's cool. I like everybody in there. Everybody's been real cool and just liking the vibe of everybody.”

As many are aware, he has a preexisting relationship with his teammates and friends from Villanova. It’s one thing to share a bond with people who went to the same school, but there’s another level of love for a group of four players who won a championship together.  

That’s what Bridges, Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson, and Donte DiVincenzo did with the Wildcats, achieving the NCAA Men’s Tournament title in 2016. Two years later, with the exception of Hart, who was beginning his NBA career with the Lakers, they accomplished it again.

In 2024, Bridges will join the aptly nicknamed “NovaKnicks” to turn a trio into a quartet. (It could have been a quintet had Ryan Arcidiacono not been moved at last year’s trade deadline, too.)

Last week, Bridges got his first real taste of the Big Apple as a guest on a live recording of Hart and Brunson’s podcast called “Roommates Show.” It emanated from Central Park in front of a raucous crowd of Knicks fans, who gave their now-fellow New Yorker resident a warm welcome… at least when he wasn’t talking about their crosstown rival.

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“Wild. I felt like I was at a concert,” Bridges said. “They were wild. It was cool just to see Jalen and Josh. You can tell how much the city loves them. I've known them dudes for so long. They deserve all of that. It's cool 'cause they're some really good dudes. Real dope.”

Fitting To The Knicks

In his 109 games with the Brooklyn Nets, there was a major uptick in Bridges’ responsibilities. In five seasons with the Phoenix Suns, his usage rate never exceeded 15%. During his time with the Nets, that figure increased by a full 11 percentage points (25.7%), per Basketball Reference.

Naturally, it led to bigger numbers, including a career-high 21.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game during his time in Brooklyn overall. Last season, though, Bridges saw his True Shooting percentage dip to 56.0% — his lowest mark since he was a rookie.

While he doesn’t number crunch or pay attention to stats, Bridges is aware that he wasn’t his usual efficient self — an aspect of his game that he’s dead set on rectifying.

“Just being more efficient all around the board,” Bridges said of his goal. “I think that's something I've always been my whole life, so it's kinda been weird the past year-and-a-half not being as efficient as I want to.  

“Being able to do everything offensively, defensively but also maintaining that while being efficient. It's gonna be worked out. It's not easy, but it's what I'm aiming for.”

Luckily for him, the Knicks already have an established identity that he can slide right into.

“I think they complement each other, before I even got here, so well. Jalen and Julius (Randle), them two, just playing off them,” Bridges said. “I know how to play with Jalen when he has the ball; it's just from throughout the years and the chemistry we had. And I think trying to build that with Julius in the preseason and training camp. They were good last year. I think I'll just come in and I could fit.

“Julius was out. He was hurt for a while. But having him back, I think it's gonna be easier for him and JB [witih] me out there spacing the floor and being able to do a lot of things — cutting, dribble-handoffs, coming off ball-screens, anything to help those guys out and everybody else. I think it starts with them two. Building talent around them is gonna make their jobs easier and make us tough to guard.”

It also helps to have Hart and OG Anunoby to share the floor with defensively. Even primarily being a small forward, Bridges did spend time at the 4 occasionally with the Nets last season. With that said, he doesn’t know whether or not that’ll be the case in New York this year.

“They're some strong dudes,” Bridges said. “I'm strong in my own way, but they're some strong dudes. We’ll see. I feel like we'll have a lot of situations where we just switch everything or switch 1-4. It wouldn't look too bad unless we're playing a big team like Cleveland and they want to have (Evan) Mobley and (Jarrett) Allen at the 4/5.”

“My boy Tiafoe! I didn't think he was gonna do it!"

When he’s not in the gym, Bridges is a laid-back guy who relaxes and enjoys the offseason downtime.  

In mid-August, he attended former teammate Jock Landale’s wedding. Among other ex-Suns, he had a conversation with Cam Johnson. This upcoming campaign will be Bridges’ first since 2018 without his “twin” as a teammate.

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“I was talking to him about it. It's so weird. It's so different. The only time I had [without him] was my rookie year; he wasn't in the league yet,” said Bridges, who was traded along with Johnson to the Nets in Feb. 2023. “That rookie year was so long ago, and it was just a different culture by the time he came the next year in Phoenix. So it's pretty crazy.”

A couple of weeks after the wedding, Bridges went viral – and not for something he did on the floor. Instead, he was at Arthur Ashe Stadium, taking in professional tennis at the US Open as Frances Tiafoe matched up with Alexander Shevchenko in the second round.  

Bridges met Tiafoe through Tommy Alter, a mutual friend who is the founder of ThreeFourTwo Productions and a media producer and talent across multiple platforms.  

After Tiafoe put Shevchenko away in the third set, he threw up his fingers and tilted his head in homage to Bridges, hitting the forward’s three-ball celebration before the two shared an embrace that went viral.

“My boy Tiafoe! I didn't think he was gonna do it,” Bridges said. “I was sitting there 'cause he had tickets for me and my boy Matt and Tommy. We went, and he won. I was happy he won and then he did the celly, and I was like, 'That's tough.' Just talking to him before the game and after the game, it was real cool.”

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It just goes to show that Bridges is like every sports fan supporting their favorite teams and players. He’s been watching his Philadelphia Phillies thrive as the MLB playoffs draw nearer while his Los Angeles Rams battle through injuries early in the NFL season. Now a part of a new city, he might be adding another team to his list as well.

“We share a facility with the Rangers, so I think I've got to tap into some hockey,” Bridges said. “I got my Flyers, which I know they're probably not happy about, but I've gotta get tuned in with some hockey, understanding some players and stuff like that.”

Bridges hasn’t played since his season ended on April 14, with Brooklyn missing the playoffs. It’s the first time he hasn’t appeared in the postseason since 2021.  

One week from today, the majority of NBA teams will hold their respective media days. Once that is wrapped up, it will be time for training camp – and he’s raring to go.

“It's almost that time,” Bridges said. “Been out for so long, so I'm waiting for it.”

<p>Spencer Davies has covered the NBA and the Cleveland Cavaliers as a credentialed reporter for the past nine seasons. His work has appeared on Basketball News, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, FOX Sports, HoopsHype, CloseUp360, FanSided and Basketball Insiders among others. In addition to his work in journalism, he has been a senior editor, a digital production assistant, social media manager and a sports radio anchor and producer.</p>
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