Mikal Bridges finally broke his silence after opting for less than the maximum contract extension he was allowed to sign with the New York Knicks.
“I love it here,” Bridges posted on Instagram with a series of photos of himself playing at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks’ home arena.
On July 31, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Bridges agreed to a four-year, $150 million extension on July 31 with a player option for the 2029-30 season and a trade kicker.
Following The Captain’s Lead
Bridges left $6 million on the table, which will go a long way to a second apron team like the Knicks.
“Bridges takes a slight discount from his max extension number ($156M) in order to help the Knicks have flexibility to continue building the roster and add pieces to the East championship contender,” Charania wrote on X.
The 6-foot-6 forward also had the option to delay signing an extension next summer when he could add another year and more money, according to SNY’s Ian Begley. But Bridges followed Jalen Brunson’s lead.
Brunson, the Knicks captain and Bridges’ college teammate at Villanova, also signed a four-year, $156.5 million extension last year. Had he waited until this summer, Brunson could have signed for a five-year, $269.1 million deal, essentially giving the Knicks a $113 million discount and the wiggle room to extend Bridges.
“He wants to be here and wants to win here,” a league source told SNY’s Begley.
Bridges paid it forward.
The Knicks will also have to decide on the long-term future of center Mitchell Robinson, whose four-year, $60 million contract expires after next season.
The flexibility the Knicks gained from Bridges’ discounted deal will help them in their bid to retain Robinson, who is their best rim protector and one of the league’s most prolific offensive rebounders.
Knicks Bring in Mikal Bridges’ Old Coach
The Knicks will add two of Brown’s former assistants from the Sacramento Kings, Charles Allen and Riccardo Fois, according to Hoopshype’s Michael Scotto.
Allen spent the past season as player development coach for the Kings. He previously worked as an assistant video coordinator for the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz and the Kings before his promotion to become head of video coordinators and later on as a player development/assistant coach.
On the other hand, Fois worked under Brown for the first half of last season in Sacramento. The 38-year-old Italian coach remained with the team after Brown’s dismissal. But the Kings did not bring him back after the season ended.
Brown is not only the connection Fois has to the Knicks organization. He has also worked with Bridges during their time together in Phoenix.
Bridges is looking forward to building on an uneven first season with the Knicks after the team gave up five first-round picks to pluck him out of the rebuilding Brooklyn Nets across the bridge last summer.
The 28-year-old forward averaged 17.6 points on 50% shooting wth 3.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and nearly a steal across all 82 games in the regular season. He was brilliant in the Knicks’ second-round win over the Boston Celtics after battling inconsistency during the regular season.
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