Mikal Bridges’ contract extension has led his teammate Miles McBride to put out a funny message.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the New York Knicks had agreed to a four-year $150 million extension with Mikal Bridges.
The player was traded to the Knicks last season and the team gave up five first-round picks to acquire him.
He did not have the best of seasons, but Bridges in moments showed how valuable his presence was on the team.
Despite having the option of taking a four-year $156 million extension, he left $6 million on the table to help the team.
Bridges is not the first Knicks player to take a discount on an extension. Last summer, Jalen Brunson was also eligible for an extension, but he took almost a $113 million discount by signing his contract a year earlier.
Although Bridges has not taken that big a hit on his extension, it will give the Knicks room to make some veteran acquisitions or keep players like Landry Shamet.
McBride decided to thank Bridges for taking the cut, but did so with a funny message.
His tweet read: “Manns really a team first guy, appreciate it Kal!”
Knicks fans reacted neutrally to Bridges’ extension as a majority felt there was not a lot the team could do after having traded for him by giving up five first-round picks.
He averaged 17.6 PPG and shot only 35.4% from three-point range last season, which was the lowest for him since his rookie year.
| Season | Points | Field Goal | Three-Point shooting |
| 2024-25 | 17.6 | 50% | 35.4% |
| 2023-24 | 19.6 | 43.6% | 37.2% |
| 2022-23 | 20.1 | 46.8% | 38.2% |
| 2021-22 | 17.2 | 46.3% | 38.7% |
Bridges was one of the players who called out Tom Thibodeau for not using the rotation appropriately.
He struggled at the start of his Knicks career, but came into his own as the season progressed and put up some big performances, including the Christmas Day game against the San Antonio Spurs.
With Mike Brown now taking over as the head coach, a few things are expected to be different in New York.
The former Coach of the Year likes to play with pace and defend with intent, which are qualities Bridges has as a player.
He has been a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in the past and also played as a primary option when he was on the Brooklyn Nets.
Bridges will be looking to return to his best basketball next season, as the Knicks now have a great chance in the Eastern Conference with many other teams hurt.
