Knicks PG Excited for Reunion With Former Suns

The New York Knicks have three players who played together with the Phoenix Suns.

Jeremy Brener | Oct 11, 2024

Nov 22, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Mikal Bridges (25) celebrates a basket with Phoenix Suns guard Cameron Payne (15) against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

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New York Knicks

While Mikal Bridges is reuniting with his former Villanova teammates with the New York Knicks, he is also getting back together with two of his former Phoenix Suns brothers.

Bridges is once again teammates with Landry Shamet and Cam Payne, who he played with in Phoenix from 2021-23. Bridges made it to the NBA Finals with Payne as a teammate, and the Knicks brought in all three this offseason in hopes of recreating some of the magic they had in The Valley.

Payne spoke after the Knicks' 117-94 win against the Washington Wizards about the excitement that comes with playing with Bridges and Shamet again, but also the goals in acclimating with his other new teammates.

"It was cool man, it's always fun to be out there with guys that you know," Payne said via SNY. "Obviously this training camp is about getting to know the other guys, see where they like the ball at, see where they like to shoot at."

The Knicks have pockets of players that have played with one another before, but this season they have to get all of these small puzzle pieces that have been pieced together in the past in order to build this current team.

There is a lot of potential with the team considering the fact that groups of players have experienced success together before, but that doesn't hold a lot of weight in the grand scheme of things if the team cannot figure out how to piece things together with the current roster.

Maybe it gives the Knicks somewhat of an advantage or head start, but there is still a lot of work that has to be done if the team wants to all get on the same page going into the regular season.

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Published Oct 11, 2024

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.