The New York Knicks accumulated draft picks for a few years before they cashed them in on a player who isn't the star everyone thought they'd get. Fans said Leon Rose should go after Mikal Bridges to complete the Villanova quartet, but it seemed like a far shot. The Knicks and Nets don't typically do business with one another.
That changed last summer when New York sent four unprotected first-round picks, a protected first-round pick, and a pick swap to Brooklyn for Bridges. The initial reaction across the NBA was shock, but once that wore off, the move was labeled an overpay. Why would the Knicks cash the assets they patiently accumulated for a role player?
Bridges' first few months didn't do anything to quiet the noise. Even New York fans questioned why Rose paid a high price for a player who struggled to assimilate. The tide began to shift on Christmas Day when Bridges dropped 41 points as the Knicks beat the Spurs.
Fast forward four months, and look at Bridges now. He made two huge defensive stops at the end of Games 1 and 2 against the Celtics in the second round of the playoffs to propel the Knicks to a 2-0 series lead.
Mikal Bridges is proving why the Knicks wanted him in Manhattan
Rose knew what the Knicks were getting when the trade happened before last year's draft. It wasn't because the front office thought Bridges would turn into a superstar, but because he perfectly complemented what New York wanted to be.
Acquiring Bridges and re-signing OG Anunoby gave the Knicks two defensive stoppers, designed to combat the offensive firepower from teams like the Celtics. New York went 0-4 in the regular season against Boston, furthering the narrative that trading for Bridges was a mistake, but what matters is what happens in the playoffs.
Bridges was scoreless entering the fourth quarter of Game 2, but dropped 14 points in the final 12 minutes. The game came down to the final possession. The Knicks' defense stifled Jayson Tatum. The same thing happened, except in overtime, a couple of days earlier, with Bridges and Jaylen Brown.
Bridges had nothing to do with the picks that New York sent Brooklyn last summer, but fans and the media judged his performance throughout the regular season because of it. Those picks don't look so bad now, do they?