Why Knicks' Mikal Bridges Can Be All-Star

Mikal Bridges could become an All-Star with the New York Knicks.

Jeremy Brener | Aug 31, 2024

Apr 10, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges (1) addresses the fans before the team's final home game against the Toronto Raptors at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

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New York Knicks

The New York Knicks traded five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges, which is a lot for someone who has yet to make an All-Star team in his career.

Bridges, who just turned 28 on Friday, was acquired by the Knicks in a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets just before the 2024 NBA Draft back in June. Since then, he's trained with some of his old Villanova (and now current) teammates to try and get better ahead of the upcoming season.

If everything goes right for Bridges, Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley believes Bridges can make his first All-Star team.

"Bridges paces the league in minutes, ramps up his shooting rates and earns his first ever All-Star invitation," Buckley writes. "Bridges' defense and reliability should make him an instant favorite of coach Tom Thibodeau, which could send Bridges' minutes average skyrocketing. If he performs like the missing piece the Knicks placed a massive bet on him becoming, he might prove impossible to take off the floor. If he fits as well as New York thinks he can, he could raise the defense to an elite level while choosing his offensive spots and making a serious push for a 50/40/90 shooting slash. The Knicks could be good enough that it's obvious they need multiple All-Stars, and a defensively dominant, offensively efficient Bridges can get the nod."

Bridges averaged 19.6 points per game as the Nets' top offensive weapon last season. He won't have that same luxury with the Knicks this year as Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle should share the floor with him most of the time. Bridges' role on the Knicks is to complement those two as much as possible before providing his own offense.

Tertiary options for teams have been All-Stars before, but Bridges will have to be that type of player at an elite level if he wants to make the All-Star team this year.

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Published Aug 31, 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.