BREAKING: New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges has agreed to a four-year, $150 million contract extension with the franchise, agents Sam Goldfeder and Jordan Gertler of Excel Sports Management tell ESPN. The new deal includes a player option for 2029-30 and a trade kicker. pic.twitter.com/xuiYvzykqJ
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 31, 2025
It’s official.
Mikal Bridges signed a 4-year, $150 million contract extension to remain with the Knicks through the 2029-30 NBA campaign.
The core is set.
Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges are all under contract for the next 3 consecutive seasons.
(So is Tyler Kolek and Pacome Dadiet, if you’re into that. It wouldn’t take me long to convince myself that Pacome is the next Carmelo Anthony. I’m impressionable.)
Let’s talk about why every Knicks fan should be celebrating the news.
1. Mikal Bridges is the second-best player on the team
Coming to New York, Mikal Bridges had an All-Defensive second-team trophy from his days in Phoenix and left Brooklyn as a proven leading scorer, averaging 21.2 points in two seasons at Barclays.
If you just witnessed the rise of the Oklahoma City Thunder this season, Mikal Bridges was supposed to be doing everything Jalen Williams did in that championship run.
Lock down the opposing team’s best scorer and be able to iso at the top of the key when Brunson tosses him the keys.
Mikal Bridges did that.
Sometimes.
More often than not, Bridges got beat off the dribble all night while tentatively playing hot potato on offense or taking unorthodox, contested, fadeaway middies.
He never got to the foul line—fading away from all physical contact.
Bridges never really put any defensive pressure on dribblers, just allowing them space to easily navigate around him.
But I have a theory.
I think it was important for Bridges to avoid injuries and play all 82 games.
It’s why he told a reporter he wished Thibs played them fewer minutes.
The heavy minutes were testing Bridges’s perfect attendance.
I believe he thought it’d help him get a bigger contract extension (although it seems like he was talked down from taking the maximum payday. Leon Rose is the ultimate gaslighter.)
You saw his defense suddenly improve in the playoffs, suffocating Jaylen Brown at the ends of games.
Mikal Bridges steals the ball off Jaylen Brown and the Knicks win Game 1! pic.twitter.com/0Ibw7U8HQm
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) May 6, 2025
Bridges is paid now.
Tom Thibodeau is gone, replaced by Mike Brown—a coach who will actually allow his players to get a sip of Gatorade on the sidelines.
Jalen Brunson is the best player on the team and deserves annual MVP votes.
Karl-Anthony Towns can dominate certain matchups where a center is forced to guard him on the perimeter and KAT can tiptoe right by him.
But Mikal Bridges flashes moments in which he wraps his tenticles around the entire court and dictates what happens both offensively and defensively—generating steals and blocks, leading to easy transition buckets—and his jumper heats up quick—hitting the bottom of the net over and over as if the rim isn’t even there.
I watch this game once a week, weeping like I was the first person to see Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel.
This is art.
Cinema.
If all Bridges needs is job security and a few more minutes to sit down, we are about to have front row seats to a masterpiece this season.
2. It makes Jalen Brunson happy
I can list all of Brunson’s skills and accolades and records but I want to talk about my favorite aspect of witnessing the Jalen Brunson Experience: he’s a sociopath.
Brunson, the smallest man on the court, is constantly talking shit all game long to anyone who will listen.
It’s why he and Luka were a deadly tandem. They were assholes.
Well Mikal Bridges, his college teammate, is an asshole as well.
Anytime Bridges hits a 3 in front of the other team’s bench, he cannot wait to look every single one of them in their eyes and laugh in their faces.
In December, The Athletic wrote a story about Bridges’s addiction to talking shit.
Every bucket, seemingly, is followed with words or antics. Bridges has always been that way. He talks trash to his friends when playing video games, one-on-one on the court, playing football in the schoolyard or when doing pretty much anything competitive.
“I trash-talked my mom in tennis growing up,” he said. “It’s good energy. When you talk to someone, you get the best out of them and they get locked in. That’s what I want.”
Some people might be put off by how much Bridges likes to talk, but his teammates love it. The Bridges you see on television is closer to the Bridges you see in real life. The Bridges the media often sees (at least when the cameras are rolling) is him taking care of his duties as a professional.
Jalen Brunson gets his wingman back.
They’re like two soon-to-be college dropouts ripping shots and looking for fights every night.
But unlike Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges can make shots and back up his shit talking.
It’s not like Draymond barking all night and making Steph Curry run to the car to grab the gun—both Jalen and Mikal are capable of scoring 30 on anyone.
KAT, uh, well, he’ll be there too, yelling “Staaahp” if he gets fouled too hard.
Love my big autistic son.
3. The Knicks can trade him for Giannis
Bridges is ineligible to be traded for the next 6 months but after that, he’s a trade chip.
I believe the Knicks are good enough to win a championship without trading away the spine of the roster to acquire a superstar—especially this season with their biggest competition being the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers—two teams that shrink in the postseason every year.
Even when Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton return from their Achilles injuries, I still believe the Knicks will have a superior ball club.
But, like, let’s see how Giannis feels playing with Kyle Kuzma and Myles Turner for a season.
The Milwaukee Bucks don’t even have a point guard on the roster right now. This is the goofiest roster construction in the league, yes, the same league the Sacramento Kings play in.
Bucks GM, Jon Horst got a contract extension in April.
The Bucks gave him more money AFTER they watched Kyle Kuzma score 0 points in a playoff game.
Giannis’s final days in Milwaukee soon cometh.
Also, I’m going to start floating this in August…
Are we sure Anthony Edwards loves living in Minnesota?
Just something to think about if Mikal Bridges comes out next season with a new coach and a new contract and still plays like he’s afraid of making a mistake.
That Ant Edwards and Jalen Brunson backcourt would star in every Sprite commercial.
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Thanks for reading.
Let me know if you think Mikal Bridges is about to have a special season, leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee.
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