Mikal Bridges Just Played His Best Game as a Knick. Was He Worth Five First-Round Picks?
Mikal Bridges has spent most of his Knicks tenure being defined by the trade that brought him to New York. Five first-round picks. That number has hung over every poor shooting night, every missed playoff moment, every time he disappeared in a big game. After Game 3 against the Cavaliers, that number is starting to look like a bargain.
Bridges torched Cleveland for 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting in a 121-108 win at Rocket Arena that put the Knicks one game away from the NBA Finals. He added 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. He logged nearly 40 minutes and the Knicks were plus-19 with him on the floor. That is the version of Bridges the front office was paying for when they sent that haul of picks to Brooklyn back in 2024.
The reaction online was instant and predictable. Comedian Sam Morril, a die-hard Knicks fan, summed up the mood perfectly: “Mikal Bridges has been playing better than 5 1st round picks.” Rob Perez followed up with “Don’t want to see ‘5 first round picks’ on my timeline ever again.” That sentiment was everywhere on Saturday night.
It is a real turnaround for Bridges. He was the internet’s punching bag earlier in these playoffs. He had a nightmare end of Game 2 against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, missing the potential game-winner and looking shaken afterward. He followed it up with a scoreless Game 3 and a couple more single-digit nights in Games 4 and 5. People were calling for him to come off the bench. Some were calling for the Knicks to start exploring trades.
What changed? Bridges talked openly about needing to play with more aggression and stop deferring to Jalen Brunson. He has done exactly that across the Eastern Conference Finals. Through three games against Cleveland, Bridges is averaging 19.7 points on 71.1 percent shooting. Those are absurd efficiency numbers from any wing, let alone one playing 38 minutes a night against the second-best defense in the East.
This is what the Knicks were betting on when they made the trade. Bridges is a Villanova alum and a longtime friend of Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart. New York wanted to recreate the chemistry of that Wildcats core, lean on Bridges for two-way wing minutes, and hope his three-and-D game would scale up in the playoffs.
The chemistry took longer than expected. Bridges struggled to find his role in his first full season with the team, and the Knicks had to grind through the regular season without a clear identity. But playoff Bridges has been a different player, and the lineups with him on the court have been the most reliable units in the rotation.
The numbers do not lie. He is shooting 71.1 percent in the conference finals. That is unheard of for a wing. His defense on the perimeter has been excellent, helping the Knicks shut down Cleveland’s outside shooting. He has stopped second-guessing his shot. He is taking what the defense gives him and finishing at the rim.
For Knicks fans who spent the regular season wondering if the front office had given up too much to land him, the answer is becoming clearer with every Bridges performance. The trade was always going to be evaluated on what happened in the playoffs. Through 13 playoff games, Bridges is averaging 16 points on 50/40/85 shooting splits and playing major two-way minutes.
Five first-round picks is a lot. But when you trade for a wing who can give you 22 points and lock down the other team’s best perimeter scorer on the way to the NBA Finals, the math starts to work out. The Knicks needed Bridges to deliver in the moments that matter. He is finally doing exactly that.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
