The New York Knicks probably have a lot of reasons to keep Mikal Bridges in the starting five. Obviously, he is a tested veteran, a guy who chipped in considerably to the 2026 NBA championship, and who is perhaps just working through a slump. More than that, there are the five reasons that are most closely associated with Bridges and his arrival in New York from Brooklyn–the five first-round picks the Knicks coughed up to get him. Naturally, there are, too, the 150 million reasons to keep starting Bridges. That would the $150 million, four-year extension that Bridges is currently working on, a deal that just started this year.
So while Bridges is averaging career lows in minutes (24.4), shooting (32.9%), 3-point shooting (26.5%) and scoring (5.9), the Knicks have ample reason to keep plugging him into the first five and hoping for the best. If the Knicks get to a point at which it is feasible to trade Bridges, it wouldn’t do to have him serving as the 10th man at that time.
Bridges was clear at shootaround on Friday saying he has, “gotta look in the mirror.”
Knicks’ Mike Brown: Mikal Bridges ‘Is a Starter’
This week, as calls have mounted for Brown to finally make the move on Bridges and put Landry Shamet into the Knicks starting five, Brown vowed to keep holding off.
“Mikal is a starter, so it’s not a question of that,” Brown said, via the New York Post. “Like a lot of players, they’ve had their good moments and their not-so-good moments. Mikal has a proven track record of playing at a pretty high level as a starter in this league. So for me to make a quote-unquote panic decision and change it, right now we’re [11] games in or whatever we are, I’m not feeling it.”
Brown’s stance on the subject will get a test in the coming weeks if Bridges does not improve, beginning on Friday in Indianapolis, where the Knicks will play the Pacers at 7 p.m. ET.
Knicks’ Mike Brown Makes Firm Statement on Demoting Starter