Mikal Bridges could be the Knicks' missing piece

It will be tough, but the Knicks should do everything possible to bring Mikal Bridges to the Orange and Blue.

The Knicks' fun and galvanizing season ended disappointingly a few weeks ago with a Game 7 home loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Despite the disappointing ending, they had an incredibly successful season that was ultimately derailed by key injuries to Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, OG Anunoby for stretches, and then ultimately Jalen Brunson. Undoubtedly one of the nicest and most successful Knicks teams of this generation, they won 50 games in the regular season and fought tooth and nail to the end until they didn't has nothing left to give. Even though the Bockers fell short of their ultimate goal, there is now a tremendous amount of hope and optimism for the future, and looking back, a lot of memories that made fans extremely proud to pull for them.

Judgment clouded

The aforementioned spate of brutal injuries has a lot to do with why the Knicks couldn't make it past the second round of the Playoffs and the burning question we won't get answered and will only speculate about : Could the Knicks have won the Finals if he was fully healthy? While New York had a great season, their talent pales in comparison to the Celtics and Mavericks; these two teams will fight for the chip this year. So my answer to this question would be no.

A large portion of Knicks fans would disagree and would rather return with the same crew, but (proper) pieces need to be added to the fold if they intend to usurp Boston and other powerhouses Western countries and to have a chance. winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the first time since 1973. The good news is that the chemistry is there, the training is there and the defensive courage is there, but what is a little lacking is the offensive juice and overall talent to put them over the hump. One guy who should be on everyone's radar is Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges.

Manhattan Bridges

Bridges, soon to be 28, is in his prime, coming off a good season on a mediocre and directionless Nets team that desperately needs a reboot to get back into relevance. Bridges, who is under contract for the 25-26 season, is an ideal candidate to leave Brooklyn, as he can bring in a huge return as the Nets look to rebuild. Bridges, at 6’6″, is an exceptional perimeter defender and three-point shooter, knocking down 37.5% of his career attempts from behind the arc, according to ESPN Stats.

Frankly, he could be a good fit for any NBA team, but would fit in very well with the Knicks who desperately need secondary scoring. Bridges isn't the type to be considered a number one option on a championship team, but he's a guy who can fit right in with the Knicks and be a no-no. two or three in a role that would elevate the Knicks to the upper echelon of NBA teams.

There's a lot of talk about finding the right players while building a team and putting it together using fit as a barometer to determine whether to draft a guy versus overall talent. We've seen teams built with a hodgepodge of great talent and no chemistry and they often don't live up to expectations. Leon Rose has done an outstanding job building the Knicks and spending money and capital on players who work well together. Last season's Knicks team seemed to really like each other and Bridges, because of the clear Villanova connection and overall adaptable personality, would fit in perfectly and to boot, can give you 20-25 points per game.

If New York can bring in Mikal and resign OG Anunoby, you also have one of the best defensive backcourts in the NBA to go along with Jalen Brunson's offensive superstar, you could have a championship-level perimeter battalion.

Bring it here

The difficulty for Mikal coming to the Knicks has several levels; The first is that he's under contract in Brooklyn, so you'll have to pay a high trade price to convince the Nets to pull the trigger. Second, we all know the Nets are the little brothers in town and are not willing to do the Knicks any favors. So there is a real possibility that Brooklyn will make it difficult for the Knicks and try to extract every possible advantage from them.

If you can get a guy of Bridges' caliber here, you're moving mountains to do it, and luckily the Knicks have tradeable pieces and capital to make it work if the Nets are willing to commit. The asking price for Bridges would likely start at three first-round picks and some good players, with that the Nets could begin their rebuild with something concrete on their roster. Julius Randle's name comes up a lot and he would be the best the Knicks can offer, but would the Nets want to lean on a 30 year old forward, who is great, but is not a top tier star in this domain. game and has been bitten by the injury bug a bit in recent seasons.

Brooklyn is in a tough spot as they need to recoup the draft capital they lost with their Harden, Kyrie and Durant trades to begin their rebuild; they will likely want foundational, proven pieces for the future. This, in turn, puts the Knicks at a disadvantage because the Nets' reluctance to deal with the Knicks is already there and, if they can't offer what the Nets want, there are plenty of other teams that can deliver at NBA level . talent in addition to draft capital in exchange for Mikal.

This brings us to the most likely scenario for a three-team trade should this fall through, so everyone can get what they want, but getting there will be a long and arduous road.

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