The Thunder’s latest injury news has opened up a fresh trade angle for the Knicks, and Mikal Bridges sits right in the middle of it.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported earlier in the week that Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace will both need surgery and miss most, if not all, of the season. That kind of setback changes the way teams start looking at the market, and the Thunder suddenly become one of the more interesting clubs to watch in trade simulations over the next few weeks.
If Oklahoma City eventually goes hunting for a wing with size, Bridges checks a lot of boxes. He’s a 3-and-D wing, and he’s also a player who knows how to beat the Spurs, which only adds to the fit.
That said, Knicks fans don’t need to panic after six games. But Bridges’ rough start is hard to ignore.
He’s averaging 6.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while shooting 33.3% from the field and 7-for-24 from deep. He has 15 made baskets and 11 fouls, and he still hasn’t attempted a free throw.
His latest outing only sharpened the concern. New York had to erase a 19-point second-half deficit in Chicago, and Bridges was largely on the sideline for that comeback.
It was already the second time this season he’d been benched for most of the second half. He ended the game with three points, no rebounds, no assists and one turnover.
Mike Brown didn’t hesitate to shorten the leash. Bridges didn’t play in the fourth quarter and logged just 13 minutes, his lowest total as a Knick aside from Game 82 last season, when he barely played at all. Before that, his low point in New York was 19 minutes in the Game 4 blowout of Atlanta.
The bigger issue is that Bridges hasn’t looked fully locked in. The championship shine is still there, but his effort level has drawn attention, and it’s fair to wonder whether he’s simply trying to keep his consecutive-games streak alive. That run is now at 643 straight regular-season games since he entered the league in 2018, a number surpassed by only seven players, none of whom started their careers after 1990.
There’s something admirable about showing up every night in an era built around load management. But there’s also a real question about whether that streak has become a burden, with mental fatigue and the fear of taking one wrong step hanging over him. Knicks fans have already lived through a love-hate relationship with Bridges in his first two seasons in orange and blue.
Last season had plenty of the same frustrations. The Villanova product often wasn’t assertive enough, and he finished with 14.2 points per game, his lowest mark since 2021-22.
He scored 20 or more points only 16 times and finished in single digits 13 times. His scoreless Game 3 against Atlanta in the playoffs was the low point.
Whenever Bridges disappeared for a stretch, the draft-pick haul Leon Rose sent to Brooklyn for him came right back into the conversation. That was before the Knicks won a title with Bridges playing a major role on both ends, but the price tag is starting to sting again now that he’s regressing instead of building on that championship run.
One possible path would involve the Thunder and Isaiah Hartenstein. A trade built around him would help New York up front, free up more Karl-Anthony Towns minutes at power forward and create some cap flexibility, since Hartenstein makes $11 million less next year as the Knicks navigate James Dolan’s second apron mandate.
If New York were ranking the players it could move to ease financial pressure, Bridges would likely be at the top of the list. He’s the most movable starter, he turned 30 over the summer and he has plenty of wear on those pogo-stick legs.
That doesn’t mean a trade is coming now. Bridges probably stays put, plays all 82 games, settles in around 13-16 points per night and shows up when the playoffs arrive.
Still, it’s a situation worth watching. Something has to give if the Knicks want to extend Karl-Anthony Towns, and if this season starts going sideways, the pressure to alter the starting five could arrive sooner rather than later.
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