Mikal Bridges is still finding his place with the New York Knicks

New York is looking for more out of its squad. It starts with Bridges.

When Mikal Bridges was dealt to New York this past summer, the deal seemed too good to be true.

The Villanova kid had made the jump to a bonafide scoring option with the Brooklyn Nets. The Knicks, who had been accumulating draft picks for several years, finally went all in, cashing in their accumulated draft capital for an all-NBA defensive talent capable of scoring twenty points a game.

Of course, Bridges was college teammates at Nova with Brunson, Hart, and DiVincenzo, who was still part of the Knicks at the time of the deal.

When it was all said and done, the price for Bridges totaled five first round picks, a sum usually reserved for superstars.

Now, this isn’t a Mikal Bridge hate piece. Bridges has been a very good addition to this Knicks squad. He’s played good on-ball defense. His shooting splits are solid. Most importantly, he’s a hard worker and a winner. He’ll figure it out.

But the Knicks simply need more right now out of a player they mortgaged their future for.

Here’s Bridges’ game log across his last seven appearances.

With Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns dominating the ball, Bridges has returned to the same off-ball third option scoring role that he assumed on the Phoenix Suns, rather than the ball-dominating efficient scorer that he flashed in Brooklyn. He’s prone to disappearing for long stretches on offense, seemingly camping in the corner for quarters at a time without impacting the game. Without the ball in his hands, he can struggle to impact the game.

No statistic illustrates this more than his free throw rate.

• Across his 109 games as a Net, Bridges averaged 4.6 attempts per game.
• Through 57 games as a Knick, Bridges has averaged 1.1 attempts per game.

(And yes, his minutes have gone up.)

Bridges needs to put his head down and get to the rim and foul line. He hasn’t shot a free throw in six games. This is a guy leading the league in minutes. He’s playing well in a catch and shoot role. But the Knicks need to unleash him as something more.

Similarly, on the other end of the floor, the Knicks have a defense in the back half of the league. Pairing Bridges with OG was supposed to make it impossible for opposing forwards to score on us. While the two are still outstanding individual defenders, the Knicks have lost their identity on which they made a run last year. There’s no toughness. There’s no grit. There’s no camaraderie.

The hustle and heart of last year’s squad? Gone.

Bridges will find his way. He’s on a great deal, and the dear first round picks that departed were bound for the back half of the first round anyways. I don’t mind the price that we paid for him. The deal is already flashing dividends.

In the meantime, though, the integration period on a team-wide level has been frustrating to watch at times. The front office is depleted of assets. And time is running out for the Knicks to put all the pieces together before the playoffs this season. Back to back blowouts against the Cavs and Celtics has only emphasized that point.

Tellingly, Bridges has had silent nights each of those games.

This is the most talented Knicks roster on paper that New York has seen this century. It’s understandable that fans are clamoring for a championship. That being said, the roster and rotation will take some tweaking before we start talking about any trophies. It might not be this year. The Knicks have some figuring out to do before they truly reach perennial contender status.

The good news? They have some time to figure it out. Maybe not this year, but over the next few years. I know better than to try and preach patience to Knicks fans. Patience might be necessary here, though, whether you like it or not.

The road to unlocking their potential goes through Mikal Bridges. He’s the X-factor. He’s the puzzle that needs to be solved. Once Tom Thibodeau does that, we’ll be having very different conversations around this team.