Knicks must cling to this stat to prove they didn't blow it with Bridges extension

The New York Knicks signed Mikal Bridges to a lucrative new contract extension, one that looks like an overpay on the surface. Hope remains in the form of a deeper look at the defensive impact of the newly-paid Knickerbocker.

Mikal Bridges was highly sought after by many teams, and it took six first-round picks for the Knicks to pry him away from the Brooklyn Nets. He was thought to be the ideal finishing piece, a No. 3 option on offense and a really good defender -- once a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Phoenix, his defense had slipped in Brooklyn.

This past season was hardly what any Knicks fan would call a resounding a success for the Bridges-New York partnership. There was an extended stretch of the season where his 3-point shot abandoned him, and it took fairly hot shooting over the second half of the year to get him back to 35.4 percent, a mediocre overall number and his worst since his rookie season.

The impact numbers are even more painful. Box Plus-Minus rates Bridges as worse than replacement level last season. Estimated Plus-Minus ranked him 91st in the league among all players who logged significant minutes. His usage rate dipped joining other stars on a contender instead of being the No. 1 option on a bad team, but his efficiency didn't rise much overall. In particular, his assist rate fell and he stopped drawing fouls altogether. He shot well from the midrange, but he seemed to want to take every shot from that neglected space instead of getting to the rim.

That's why his new contract amount is somewhat surprising. Bridges and New York just agreed to a four-year, $150 million extension that will tie him to the franchise through 2028-29, with a player option for the final season and a trade kicker. It was just $6 million shy of the maximum possible extension, and when you factor in the bells and whistles it was about as good as it could get for Bridges.

That's not what you pay the 91st best player in the NBA. His level of play last season did not deserve the paycheck he just received. This contract was likely the understanding when the Knicks traded for Bridges a year ago, but it is absolutely an overpay given how he performed last season.

Thankfully, there are signs of hope for New York -- including one statistic that may be flying under the radar.

There is hope for the Knicks

Mikal Bridges had a painful offensive season, not meeting the level expected of him and having some awful performances on national television. Yet at the same time, his true defensive impact may have flown under the radar -- and just how much work he and OG Anunoby did to keep the Knicks afloat despite playing Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns heavy minutes.

One of the things asked of Knicks perimeter defenders last season was to defend in isolation. Towns was not bringing much in the way of help defense, and Bridges and Anunoby (and Josh Hart, Miles McBride, etc) were asked to defend their man on an island. And no one in the NBA, by at least one metric, did that better than Mikal Bridges.

Per Synergy, and shared by data visualist @CrumpledJumper on X, no player in the NBA "stopped" more drives than Bridges. That means the player being guarded either turns the ball over, misses a shot, or passes into a non-assist situation. And Bridges led the league:

Dyson Daniels was a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. Jaden McDaniels is praised for his perimeter defense. Christian Braun was a breakout star for the Denver Nuggets in that role. Further down the list, names like Amen Thompson, Toumani Camara and Derrick White leap out - all premier defenders.

Bridges took on a fantastic volume of opposing drivers last season and rated positively on such assignments. Given his role and the Knicks' scheme, that is exactly what the team needs, and therefore boosts his defensive value to the Knicks in particular.

Could the Knicks have negotiated further on this contract? Probably. Are they overpaying Bridges? Almost certainly. But a player who has a track record of better shooting, is an underrated defender and never gets hurts does hold a lot of value, and the Knicks are banking it makes him worth the contract -- and perhaps more importantly, that he is able to be a part of a title-winning team.