Mikal Bridges suited up all 82 games last season, shooting a career-efficient line while touching the ball less than almost anyone in the Knicks' rotation. That trade-off, volume down, efficiency up, is exactly what a title defense with this payroll needs from him again.
The role
Bridges isn't the engine here. He's the wing who guards the other team's toughest cover, spaces the floor and lets Brunson run the offense through him rather than to him. That's the job the Knicks traded four first-round picks for, and it's the job he's kept without complaint.
Last season's line
82 games, all of them, at 32.8 minutes a night. He averaged 14.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists, shooting 49.0 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from three on 5.1 attempts a game. The free-throw line was even better: 82.7 percent. No missed games is its own stat line for a wing logging heavy minutes in a playoff rotation.
The efficiency case
A true shooting mark of 58.7 percent on a usage rate of just 17.0 percent tells the real story. Bridges scores efficiently without needing the ball, which is exactly how a fourth or fifth option should operate on a roster with this much star power. His offensive rating sat at 118.0 against a defensive rating of 112.0, a net swing of plus-6.0 whenever he's on the floor.
The money
Bridges is owed $33.5M this season, climbing to $36.2M, then $38.8M, with a player option at $41.5M in 2029-30. That's a long runway of guaranteed money for a role player, which only raises the bar on what he has to deliver on both ends every single night he's out there.
Bottom line
Not on the injury report, no missed games last season, no red flags. Bridges' job this year is unchanged: guard the best perimeter threat on the floor, hit the three when it's there, and keep doing it 82 times if that's what it takes. For a roster stretched thin by the tax, that reliability is worth more than any highlight.
What is Mikal Bridges' contract with the Knicks?
He is owed $33.5M this season, rising to $36.2M in 2027-28 and $38.8M in 2028-29, with a $41.5M player option for 2029-30.
How many games did Mikal Bridges play last season?
He played all 82 games, averaging 32.8 minutes a night in the Knicks' rotation.
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