Mike Brown’s choice to sit Mikal Bridges in favor of Landry Shamet may have looked like a simple rotation tweak on Monday night, but it felt like something bigger for the Knicks.
Bridges started against the Brooklyn Nets, yet he was on the floor for only 16:06. Shamet, coming off the bench, logged 30:01 and wound up giving New York the better minutes. Brown clearly saw enough to trust the switch, and the Knicks won with it.
That matters because Bridges’ season has put him in a precarious spot. His offensive production has been a problem for a while now, and the Knicks can’t keep treating him like an automatic 25- or 30-minute player if he isn’t delivering. Brown was right to make the call Monday, and there’s no reason to keep force-feeding Bridges minutes when he’s not giving the team enough on that end.
The financial side only makes the situation more uncomfortable. New York gave up an insane number of draft picks to get Bridges, so seeing him drift from reliable rotation piece to possible trade candidate is a jarring turn. The Knicks already have tough money decisions ahead, and Bridges could wind up on the chopping block if his play doesn’t rebound.
That doesn’t erase what he’s already meant to the team. The trade itself was objectively a success, and Bridges was a huge part of the current core and helped the Knicks win a championship this year. But last year is gone, and so is the idea that the closing five of Jalen Brunson, Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns is locked in every night.
For now, Brown’s message was pretty clear: Bridges has to earn the floor. If he’s not playing up to par, he shouldn’t be treated like a lock.
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Dalton Knecht Gave Knicks Fans A Reason To Watch This Battle
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Mike Brown came away impressed with more than just the shot-making, pointing to Knecht as a scorer who can affect the game in different ways. For a Knicks team always searching for useful rotation pieces and a little extra punch, that kind of first impression is the sort of thing that can keep a player on the radar even after the final buzzer. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Face An Awkward Post-Title Fight Nobody Wanted
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Some players reportedly do not want to attend, which has turned a standard championship tradition into a potential source of friction inside the organization. Spike Lee has already said he hopes the players will not be forced to go, and for a franchise that spent so long chasing a banner, the last thing anyone wanted was an awkward political fight hanging over the celebration. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Could Face A Starting Lineup Decision Fans Will Debate
Josh Harts status has become one of the more watchable items on the Knicks injury report ahead of their matchup with the Bulls, with the veteran wing listed as questionable because of ankle soreness. Hart has been a fixture in New Yorks rotation, so even a minor absence would force the staff to rethink how it wants to open the game and distribute minutes on the perimeter.
If Hart cannot go, the Knicks have a few different ways to patch the lineup, and each comes with its own tradeoff. Jordan Clarkson, Landry Shamet and Miles McBride all present different looks for a team that values versatility, defense and ball handling in different stretches, which is why this could turn into one of those lineup calls fans debate long after tipoff. Chicago has its own injury watch with Nic Claxton also questionable because of a left hamstring strain, but for New York the bigger question is how much it wants to alter a starting group that usually leans on Harts all-around presence. [Read more 🡒]