Knicks Have a New Mikal Bridges Trade Partner to Consider Calling

This is a path New York could go down...eventually.

Oct 9, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard/forward Mikal Bridges (25) reacts. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Earlier in the week, ESPN’s Shams Charania dropped a bomb with the news that Oklahoma City's Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace will both undergo surgery and be sidelined for most, if not all, of the season.

The Thunder will be the most fun team to tinker with in trade simulators in the weeks ahead. They’re going to have to eventually get a wing with size to have a chance at exacting revenge on San Antonio in the spring.

One player who just so happens to fit the bill as a 3-and-D wing, and also is no stranger to beating the Spurs, is Mikal Bridges. While it’s not time for Knicks fans to overreact to the stretchy 6-foot-6 enigma's poor start just yet, it’s worth examining as a potential move in the near-future.

Mikal Bridges trade is something Knicks will have to weigh amid struggles

Through six games, Bridges is averaging 6.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He's shooting 33.3% from the field and has connected on 7 of 24 tries from long range. He has four more made baskets (15) than fouls (11) and hasn’t shot a single free-throw yet.

It took digging out of a 19-point second half hole in Chicago to win the other night, and the heavy lifting was done without Bridges, who was benched for most of the second half for already the second time this year. He finished the game with three points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists and one turnover.

Coach Mike Brown came with a quick hook and rightfully so. Bridges didn't see the court in the fourth quarter and played just 13 minutes, his lowest total as a Knick (excluding Game 82 last season, where he's played just a few seconds)—his previous low was 19 minutes in New York's Game 4 demolition over Atlanta.

The championship glow hasn’t dimmed much, but it’s been noticeable how uninterested Bridges is in competing. He looks like a guy trying really hard to protect a games played streak, which is up to 643 consecutive regular season games since debuting in 2018, a mark topped by only seven players and none that began their careers after 1990.

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It’s admirable seeing a player suit up night after night, especially in an era of load management but it’s fair to wonder if the streak has become a detriment due to mental fatigue and the added concern of stepping the wrong way. The fanbase has mostly had a love/hate relationship with him during his first two years in orange and blue.

There were plenty of nights last season where the Villanova product was not aggressive or engaged enough. He averaged 14.2 points, his lowest total since 2021-22. He notched 20 or more points just 16 times and scored in the single digits 13 times. His goose egg against Atlanta in Game 3 this past playoffs was rock bottom.

Every time Bridges went MIA, the haul of draft picks Leon Rose shipped to Brooklyn for him was immediately mentioned. Of course, that was before the Knicks won a title with Bridges being a major contributor on both ends along the way to immortality. But that heavy price is starting to be felt again with Bridges taking a step back, instead of improving, after reaching the NBA's mountaintop.

A possible deal with the Thunder could be centered around bringing Isaiah Hartenstein back. A deal like this would reinforce things up front, allow for more Karl-Anthony Towns minutes at power forward, and add cap flexibility—Hartenstein makes $11 million less next year as New York juggles James Dolan’s second apron mandate.

If the Knicks ordered the players who could be traded to relieve financial concerns in order of preference, Bridges would probably be first. He’s easily the most replaceable out of the starters, turned 30 years old over the summer and has plenty of miles on those pogo stick legs.

I’m not saying that Bridges should be traded a measly six games into the season. He’ll likely end up sticking around, play all 82 games, average 13-16 points and show up in the playoffs.

But it’s something to monitor, as something has to give for New York to extend Karl-Anthony Towns, and a disastrous first half of this campaign might expedite the team's need to shake up the starting lineup with a departure.

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