Considering he's the club's highest-paid star at $53.1 million and required the team to offload beloved fixtures like Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to initially acquire him, it should come as no surprise that Karl-Anthony Towns has predominantly been viewed as the player who will make or break the title hopes of the New York Knicks throughout his tenure.
However, with the recent play of Mikal Bridges, it seems that there's now a new scapegoat out in the Big Apple that's taken the negative spotlight away from the All-NBA center.
During a Tuesday edition of First Take, polarizing ESPN personality and long-time Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith went off on the forward's lackluster production as of late, and specifically highlighted how his return on investment (New York gave up seven picks for his services) has fallen significantly short of expectations.
Amid his "answer the call" tirade, Smith would take things to a new kind of absolute, saying that coughing up the assorment of assets they did in the 2024 blockbuster with the Nets now "impedes your ability to go out and get the additional help" they may need to get over the hump and, should they fall short of so much as a title-round berth, the Bridges trade will be looked at "as the nail in the coffin."
Mikal Bridges has sunk to new lows here in second season with Knicks
We all know how impactful Bridges can be when he's locked in.
Heck, just last postseason, he arguably played the biggest role in the Knicks pulling out their improbable semifinal victory over the heavily favored Boston Celtics.
However, with 10 games left in year two with the franchise, it's more than apparent that the 29-year-old is amid a truly tumultuous stretch.
After a rather impressive month of December, Bridges has been wildly inefficient when on the hardwood, especially since the passing of the All-Star break.
With the illustrious mid-season exhibition in the rearview, Mikal now finds himself averaging a pedestrian 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting just 41.5 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from deep.
Though widely regarded as an elite-level wing defender, throughout this two-month rut, the Knicks have actually proven to be even better on this side of the ball when he's off the floor, as they boast a ridiculous 104.8 defensive rating when he's been riding the pine.
Whatever the reason behind Bridges' struggles, during these final weeks of the regular season, coach Mike Brown will need to find a way to either whip him back into form or devise a scheme to work around them.