The New York Knicks are going to have some tough financial decisions to make in the coming years. That much has been made painfully clear. With how poorly Mikal Bridges has played this season, he could end up on the chopping block. And in the Knicks’ recent win, he was benched for Landry Shamet. It could be a sign of things to come.
Bridges is not only in financial danger. He’s not only the most likely Knick to end up on the trade block. He needs to be taken off the floor more often. Mike Brown was right to bench Bridges. Shamet was better. He helped the Knicks win. If Bridges doesn’t have it, there’s no longer a need to keep force-feeding him minutes.
Brown needs to decide when Bridges should play and when he should be benched. It’s no longer a given that he should be on the court.
Mike Brown's Mikal Bridges decision is an omen
New York gave up an insane number of draft picks to bring Bridges to town. So, the fact that he’s no longer a reliable rotation piece is concerning. He just has nothing going offensively.
Now, that doesn’t mean the trade was a failure. It was objectively a success. Despite his struggles, Bridges helped the Knicks win a championship this year. He’s been a huge part of this current core.
Unfortunately, last year is gone. And Bridges' offensive struggles have been going on for a while now. He’s just not good enough on that side of the ball to warrant heavy playing time every single night.
Gone are the days when the five of Jalen Brunson, Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns are going to close every game. Bridges has fallen out of that guarantee.
The money issues are definitely going to play a part in Bridges’ potential future in New York. When James Dolan inevitably decides to shed salary, Bridges’ struggles are going to be thrown into the spotlight even more.
But even in the meantime, Brown’s decision to bench Bridges for Shamet on Monday night against the Brooklyn Nets was an on-court omen. A sign of how things could work in New York from here on out.
Bridges still got the start, but he only ended up playing 16:06 against the Nets. Meanwhile, Shamet clocked in at 30:01 off the bench. Clearly, Brown was okay with making that change.
And he should be. Because if Bridges isn’t playing up to par, he shouldn’t be a lock to play 30 (or even 25) minutes every night.
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