Despite having an otherwise strong off-season, the New York Knicks may have made a crucial mistake by signing star guard Mikal Bridges to a 4-year, $150 million extension. That move has drawn criticism from some who question whether Bridges is worth that amount.
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. https://t.co/IrvEbtRjSe
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 31, 2025
They may have a point. While Bridges is a star, he isn’t a traditional one. He isn’t a typical third option who can score 20 points consistently; instead, he averaged a solid, if unspectacular, 17.6 points per game last season.
Instead, he is more of a high-level role player who can defend at a high level, is incredibly durable, and can get hot from outside in the mid-range. That is valuable, but only to a point.
The Knicks don’t necessarily need to have a consistent third option with two terrific offensive players in Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Nevertheless, paying Bridges $37.5 million a year once his extension kicks in is highly questionable.
For one, it could potentially handcuff the Knicks in a couple of seasons with them paying Brunson, Towns, Bridges, and OG Anunoby all at least $40 million.
The New York Knicks doubled down on Mikal Bridges
The Knicks could have potentially held off on signing him to an extension until Bridges showed that he was worth that amount. Or, they could have paid him much less than the max.
He only took a $6 million pay cut, the equivalent of $1.5 million a season, when it’s questionable whether he would have made that much if he hit free agency after next season.
Part of the Knicks being willing to pay him that much is because Brunson took a pay cut and the team gave up five firsts to acquire him. In retrospect, five firsts for Bridges is a laughable overpay. Especially when the Los Angeles Lakers gave up a first for Luka Doncic.
Even if you take into account that they gave up Anthony Davis, he may have only been worth the equivalent of two firsts. The Knicks would absolutely love to have a couple of those picks back since it would give them a lot more flexibility, but that ship has sailed. And, instead of trying to fix their mistake by not overpaying Bridges, they lock him up for near the max, a move they may soon regret.
