Why Knicks’ reported Mikal Bridges trade talks, despite paying a king’s ransom to acquire him, show maturity

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When the Knicks traded five first-round picks and another first-round swap for Mikal Bridges last summer, there were definitely some eyes widened the NBA. Bridges is a good player, and he was a perfect fit to go back to his support-player roots next to Jalen Brunson — and eventually Karl-Anthony Towns. It’s hard to knock the move when the Knicks made it to the conference finals for the first time in a quarter century, but that’s was still a lot of compensation New York gave away for a sub-All-Star player. Hell, it’s a lot for an All-NBA player. 

Longtime New York insider Frank Isola tweeted Wednesday that Bridges’ name has “surfaced in trade discussions,” in part because he’s currently eligible to sign a four-year, $156 million max extension that the Knicks probably aren’t too excited to pay. 

It begs the question: Would the Knicks really trade Bridges after everything they gave up to get him? The smart answer is “yes,” and it sounds like the Knicks are being smart by at least entertaining the idea from an objective place.

Have you ever heard of sending good money after bad? Compounding a mistake? If the Knicks did pay too much for Bridges, which is a matter of opinion, what sense is there in chasing a rash bet by committing to an extension that could age even worse?

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Isola also noted that the Knicks are entertaining Mitchell Robinson in other trade conversations, and here’s where this could get interesting. The Knicks (along with every other team) are known to covet Jaren Jackson Jr., who is in a tight extension spot with the Grizzlies because they can only give him a 140% raise on whatever he ends up making this upcoming season, which is the final year of the clearance-rack, $105 million contract he signed three years ago. Bridges and Robinson to Memphis for Jackson Jr. and some throw-ins work at present numbers. (Just saying.)

Now, this probably isn’t going to happen. All indications point to Memphis getting as close as it can to $14 million below the cap, then using that extra room to renegotiate the final year of Jackson’s current contract (set for a measly $23.4 million right now), which would allow them to extend him at 140% of that new number. That gets him close to a max extension, if not all the way there.

Still, it’s at least a thought exercise for the Knicks. Bridges and Robinson are good players, and either putting them together or trading them separately can bring back real value back to New York. What’s important in Bridges’ case is that the Knicks are not marrying themselves to a deal they made last summer as a matter of pride. Sometimes, a quickie divorce is the way to go before resentment truly sets in. 

This isn’t to suggest the Knicks resent the move they made for Bridges. At the time, they were designing their team to compete against with the wing-heavy Celtics, and New York eliminated Boston in the second round with Bridges playing a vital role. As we just saw with the Magic sending four first-round picks and two rotation players to the Grizzlies for Desmond Bane, it’s not always the stars that fetch the highest return. It’s about fit.

Bridges, in theory, fit perfectly with the Knicks. It just didn’t go exactly as planned. Bridges was up and down all season, and his highs and lows in the playoffs were equally extreme. He shot well overall (becoming midrange sniper who cashed 37% of his non-garbage-time 3s), the Knicks did make the conference finals. 

Defense was once Bridges’ superpower, but that was more down than up this year. He gets beat a lot more than he did when he was with the Suns, when he was legit one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. The bottom line is that this is a good player who can make great money. In the recent past, the Knicks have gotten ahead of these situations by trading said good player before having to pay said great money. 

“The one thing the Knicks’ front office has shown … if they don’t want to extend you, they’re not letting you get to free agency and walk,” Steve Popper of Newsday sports said on Wednesday. “They’re going to find a way to get what they can for you and make a deal. They did it with Immanuel Quickley. They did it with Julius Randle. They did it with Obi Toppin. Guys that they didn’t want to give that extension to … they move you.

“I’ve felt all along that maybe that was going to be the case with Bridges this summer. The price they paid for him, I’m a believer in that sunk cost theory of economics; don’t worry about what you paid for him. If he’s not part of your future, make the move and get what you can.”

This about sums it up. This Knicks front office has indeed shown its willingness to cut bait from what they felt were going to be overpriced extensions in Quickley and Randle, and they got a massive return on both in Towns and OG Anunoby. The question now is whether they can make a similar move for Bridges. It sounds like they’re at least exploring the idea, even after a successful season and even after paying a king’s ransom to get him. 

The Knicks deserve credit for even being open to such a move. Plenty of teams have tied themselves to players out of pride due to capital spent, whether through the draft, free agency or trades. That can be a short-sighted way of thinking.

New York trading Bridges for a lot less than it paid for him just one year ago would be, strictly speaking, an admission that it made a bad investment. But it wasn’t that bad. And now, the Knicks have a chance to recoup at least some of that expense and get out before the price starts to look even worse. 

This news was originally published on this post .

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