There's been a mixed bag of reactions when it comes to Mike Brown being the new head coach of the New York Knicks. But as we consider all sides of the subject, it does truly seem that Brown may be able to solve an issue that Tom Thibodeau never did: getting the most out of Mikal Bridges.
Ever since New York went all in on acquiring Bridges, the move has been near-universally panned as one of the worst trades of the last decade. And let's be honest, it was a massive trade package. Giving up five first-round picks for a player like Mikal, although he's talented... isn't great.
There's reasonable cause for Bridges having the less-than-impressive season he had last year, not the least of which being the shift in responsibility. Going from the featured guy on offense in Brooklyn back to a much more secondary option with the Knicks is likely a more difficult adjustment to make than people would think.
Mike Brown can better utilize Mikal Bridges than Thibs did
The second likely reason Mikal struggled involves his usage during the 2024-25 season. New York's offense leaned extremely heavily on the offensive creation abilities of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns during much of last year's campaign. There's some offensive initiation abilities that Bridges possesses that have largely gone untapped since Bridges arrived in New York.
And that's precisely where I think Mike Brown's expertise on the sideline may end up coming in handy. Brown has worked with plenty of superstars over the years, and he knows how to construct a high-efficiency offensive attack. He may opt to run more plays for Mikal, and have more of the offense structured around him in general.
To me, this would be an excellent way of killing two birds with one stone for the Knicks. For one, your offense is going to look clunky and unorganized a lot less when you properly utilize the talents of one of your best players. And then for two, you're going to give yourself an even greater chance of silencing all the talk about the trade being a terrible one.
Getting Mikal Bridges back to form and allowing him to fall in line as more of a go-to secondary scorer is the way to go for New York next season. The Knicks have an obvious opportunity to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2026, and this tweak would get them a lot closer to that dream becoming reality.