Mikal Bridges has given Knicks fans a familiar kind of headache through the first nine games of New York’s title defense.
The numbers have been rough. Bridges is averaging 6.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, and he’s hitting just 32.9% of his shots.
Mike Brown has already gone to Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson to cover for the wing’s struggles, and Brown has now benched Bridges three times in nine games. That’s already nearly halfway to last season’s total, when Bridges was benched seven times in the regular season.
Still, this isn’t new territory for the Knicks. Bridges has already put fans through this kind of stretch before, only to remind them why the team gave up five first-round draft picks to get him. His game-to-game availability has long been one of his defining traits, but so has his knack for showing up when the stakes rise.
The first benching of the 2025-26 regular season came on January 24 against the Philadelphia 76ers, when Bridges took 16 shots in fewer than 29 minutes and made only three. In the second game of the Knicks’ young season, against the Boston Celtics, he played 22 minutes, missed all eight of his field goal attempts and was replaced by Shamet early in the fourth quarter.
He responded with six points in the next game, then 12 in the following one before Brown pulled him again on the second night of a back-to-back. Against the Chicago Bulls, Brown sat him for the rest of the night with about eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Bridges then turned in a stronger outing against the 76ers, scoring 12 points on 5-8 FG and adding three steals in the Knicks’ second loss of the season to LeBron James’ new team. The next night, against Bridges’ old team, the Brooklyn Nets, he was again taken out early in the third quarter and did not return. Clarkson handled the extra run, logging 15 minutes in each of the Knicks’ next two games.
For all the frustration Bridges can create in the regular season, the Knicks have seen this movie before. And if the pattern holds, they know what comes next. Bridges doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon, which is exactly why New York will be counting on his defensive motor, versatility and overall skill set in the 2027 NBA Playoffs.
In Other News...
James Dolan May Be Standing In The Knicks' Way Again
Karl-Anthony Towns irritation over not having a contract extension appears to be aimed less at the Knicks basketball operations staff than at owner James Dolan, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. The backdrop here is straightforward enough: New York has been working through the realities of a pricey roster, and the extension conversation has become part of that larger picture as the team tries to balance present ambition with future flexibility.
Dolans reluctance to push the Knicks into the NBAs second salary cap apron has added another layer to the discussion, with the concern centered on roster-building restrictions rather than simple spending. The Athletic piece lays out how those second-apron rules can limit what a team can do, while also noting that New York is already living with some of those constraints because of its current salary situation, which makes the extension question feel less like a routine negotiation and more like a test of how far the franchise is willing to go. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Face A Bigger Karl-Anthony Towns Decision Than Fans Realize
The Knicks have already put a big number on the table for Karl-Anthony Towns, with a reported offer in the $45 million to $50 million per year range, but there still is not an extension in place. For a team that has spent recent seasons trying to build around star power, the hesitation says as much about long-term planning as it does about Towns himself.
New York is weighing more than just the immediate fit. The front office is wary of locking into another expensive deal that could age badly as stars get older, especially with salary cap rules making every major commitment harder to unwind. The result is a familiar Knicks balancing act, one that could shape not only Towns' future but the flexibility of the roster around him. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Keep Finding Bargains And Jordan Clarkson Is Proving Why
The Knicks have made a habit of squeezing real value out of the margins, and Jordan Clarkson is the latest example. On a veterans minimum deal, he has been one of their most productive players this season and has even led the team in plus/minus through its first nine games, a reminder that bargain contracts can carry real weight when the roster is built the right way.
Landry Shamet offered a similar blueprint last season, arriving on a non-guaranteed deal before turning that opportunity into a multi-year contract after helping in the playoffs. In a salary cap era where every usable rotation piece matters, New York has shown it can uncover players who outperform the price tag, and Clarkson is giving that approach another boost. [Read more 🡒]