<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwolves-news-anthony-edwards-nsfw-trash-talk-mikal-bridges');   ga('set', 'title', 'Anthony Edwards’ leaked NSFW trash talk to Mikal Bridges goes viral');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Anthony-Edwards-leaked-NSFW-trash-talk-to-Mikal-Bridges-goes-viral.jpg"></figure><h1>Anthony Edwards’ leaked NSFW trash talk to Mikal Bridges goes viral</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-14T10:39:38-07:00">October 14th, 10:39am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-15T11:27:46-07:00">October 15th, 11:27am</time><address><a>Malik Brown</a>Malik Brown is a multimedia reporter based in Atlanta who covers the Hawks and Dream for ClutchPoints. Malik has worked in entertainment and sports, and he specializes in the NBA and NFL.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Anthony <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwovles-news-anthony-edwards-blasts-jayson-tatum-netflix-show-yall-trippin">Edwards is getting recognition as a trash-talker</a>, and he’s starting early in the preseason. In the Minnesota Timberwolves game against the New York Knicks, Edwards was caught talking to Mikal Bridges while he was <a href="https://twitter.com/legendz_nba/status/1845680058586849345" rel="noopener">shooting his free throws</a>.</p><p>“That n—- done changed his shot, man…. D—,” Edwards is heard saying.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">LEAKED Audio Of Anthony Edwards Trash Talking Mikal Bridges👀:</p><p>“That n**** done changed his shot, man…. Damn!” <a href="https://t.co/Aieczd0SPv">pic.twitter.com/Aieczd0SPv</a></p><p>— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) <a href="https://twitter.com/legendz_nba/status/1845680058586849345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>It does look like Bridges has tweaked his shot just a bit, but Edwards being the one to mention it made the moment hilarious. There’s no doubt that during the season, there will be more moments of Edwards talking trash to other players around the league.</p><h2>Anthony Edwards is becoming one of NBA’s best trash-talkers</h2><p>Anthony Edwards was most recently seen talking trash on Netflix’s Starting 5. During one of the segments, the Timberwolves had just beaten the Boston Celtics in overtime, and Edwards did his best on trying to contain Jayson Tatum.</p><p>After the game, the cameras heard him talking about Tatum and his status in the league.</p><p>“You seen Tatum trying to get me on the switch, locked his a– up 2 times,” Edwards said. “He started talking s—. Tatum was talking crazy, saying, ‘Yeah, I’m here,’ then I said, ‘I’m coming again.’ Talking ‘bout best player in the league, y’all trippin’.”</p><p>Edwards was also seen talking trash to Kevin Durant in the playoffs last season, and there have been many more moments where the Timberwolves star has gotten the best of his opponents. Nobody gets a pass with Edwards, not even the older generation of NBA players. A few months ago, he was asked how he thought <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-anthony-edwards-claims-michael-jordan-was-only-older-generation-player-with-skill">basketball is different now compared</a> to back in the day</p><p>“I didn’t watch it back in the day so I can’t speak on it,” Edwards said. “They say it was tougher back then than it is now, but I don’t think anybody had skill back then. [Michael Jordan] was the only one that really had skill, you know what I mean? So that’s why when they saw Kobe [Bryant], they were like, ‘Oh, my God.’ But now everybody has skill.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Anthony Edwards’ leaked NSFW trash talk to Mikal Bridges goes viral

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mikal-bridges-knicks-contract-extension-timeline-gets-critical-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mikal Bridges’ Knicks contract extension timeline gets critical update');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mikal-Bridges-contract-extension-timeline-gets-critical-update.jpg"></figure><h1>Mikal Bridges’ Knicks contract extension timeline gets critical update</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-06T18:49:28-07:00">October 6th, 6:49pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-06T18:49:28-07:00">October 6th, 6:49pm</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks have Mikal Bridges under contract for the next two seasons after acquiring him in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets, and he reportedly is <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/sunday-best-all-the-latest-from-the" rel="noopener">going to wait until</a> the next offseason to work out an extension with his new team, according to Marc Stein.</p><p>“The Knicks’ Mikal Bridges is waiting until after the season to hammer out a contract extension with his new team, league sources tell The Stein Line,” Marc Stein wrote in his Substack newsletter.</p><p>By waiting until next offseason, Bridges will get a more lucrative deal, and will be more comfortable after getting a season in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/what-karl-anthony-towns-means-mitchell-robinson-future-knicks">with the Knicks</a>. Stein went into exactly what an extension could look like for Bridges next summer.</p><p>“By waiting until after the season, Bridges would be eligible for a more appealing four-year deal worth an estimated $157 million,” Stein wrote.”</p><p>The yearly salary at that number would be just under $40 million. Bridges’ current contract has him at just under $23 million a year, and is one of the best value contracts in the NBA, which is a big reason why it <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/karl-anthony-towns-first-bucket-with-knicks-after-timberwolves-trade">cost the Knicks</a> five unprotected first-round picks to acquire him from the Nets. There is little question about Bridges’ fit with the Knicks, given his history with Jalen Brunson at Villanova, as well as just the fact that the type of player Bridges is would fit with pretty much any team. But after this season, we will have a clear picture as far as the value Bridges brings to the Knicks, which will be important next summer for contract negotiations.</p><h2><b>Knicks firmly in contention window</b></h2><p>The Knicks undoubtedly view themselves as a team that can contend to win an NBA Championship after the acquisitions of Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns this offseason. New York has star player Jalen Brunson locked into a very good contract that saves money long-term, while Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby are under contract for the next few years as well. Bridges will likely join that group.</p><p>The four of Brunson, Bridges, Towns and Anunoby compliment each other, because they are all good shooters, so the spacing on the floor will open up plenty of opportunities to score for pretty much everyone on the team. It will be interesting to see how that group fares this year. The expectation will be to make a deep run in the playoffs and perhaps be competitive with the Boston Celtics if they cross paths.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mikal Bridges’ Knicks contract extension timeline gets critical update

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-how-new-yorks-creativity-with-mikal-bridges-trade-enabled-karl-anthony-towns-deal');   ga('set', 'title', 'How Knicks’ creativity with Mikal Bridges trade enabled Karl-Anthony Towns deal');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Knicks-news-How-New-Yorks-creativity-with-Mikal-Bridges-trade-enabled-Karl-Anthony-Towns-deal.jpg"></figure><h1>How Knicks’ creativity with Mikal Bridges trade enabled Karl-Anthony Towns deal</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-02T08:54:08-07:00">October 2nd, 8:54am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-02T08:54:08-07:00">October 2nd, 8:54am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks were by far the most <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-how-long-knicks-were-working-massive-karl-anthony-towns-trade">active team on the trade market</a> this offseason, at least in the blockbuster department. Not only did they trade for Karl-Anthony Towns last Friday, they also dealt away a plethora of first-round picks to bring Mikal Bridges in. They sense that there is a major opportunity for them to compete for a championship, and there’s no question that they’re going for it.</p><p>Building a roster with plenty of top-tier talent like the Knicks have requires careful planning and some much-needed foresight. The Knicks front office <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-the-european-complication-delayed-karl-anthony-towns-trade">opened the door for a Towns trade</a> by prioritizing flexibility in the aftermath of the deal that they struck with the Brooklyn Nets for Bridges.</p><p>As Keith Smith, cap expert for Spotrac, wrote, the Knicks <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2469/knicks-timberwolves-hornets-get-creative-in-three-team-deal" rel="noopener">decided to send more money</a> in salary to the Nets than they got back in return. This then prevented them from being hard-capped at the first luxury tax apron. They would not have been able to trade for Towns using the package they gave away to the Minnesota Timberwolves if they were hard-capped at the first apron.</p><p>A trade for Towns would have required the Knicks to give up more assets if they were hard-capped at the first apron. But with the flexibility they <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-nets-mikal-bridges-expaned-unqiue-sign-and-trade">retained by including Shake Milton</a> (via sign-and-trade) in the Bridges deal, they were able to utilize some cap technicalities to match Towns’ salary worth $49.2 million for the 2024-25 season, although it necessitated the inclusion of a third team to make the deal work.</p><p>It might be salary cap management 101 to do what the Knicks did; given their need for a center amid their lack of depth at the position as well as Mitchell Robinson’s injury, allowing themselves to go past the first tax apron was a bare minimum requirement. But considering how mismanaged the Knicks have been for most of the 21st century, this level of awareness is refreshing, especially when it has proven to be the difference when it comes to acquiring a four-time All-Star who’s still in the middle of his prime.</p><h2><b>Knicks sacrifice depth for top-shelf talent — will it work?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Knicks-forward-Mikal-Bridges-speaks.jpg"></figure><p>The Knicks assembled for themselves some quality depth at every position to end the 2023-24 season. This depth came in handy amid injury problems to the likes of Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and OG Anunoby, allowing them to finish the season as the two-seed. They even came to within just one win away of making it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.</p><p>But the Knicks then decided to consolidate their depth to acquire two quality pieces in Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. While Bridges gives the Knicks arguably the best 3-and-D wing duo in the league (alongside Anunoby) and Towns will make their offense close to unstoppable thanks to his generationally-great shooting ability, they will have to cobble together a workable bench mob from spare parts.</p><p>At the moment, only Miles McBride and Precious Achiuwa remain as convincing bench pieces for the Knicks. Cameron Payne could be of help as well. But their wing depth is very questionable now that Donte DiVincenzo is gone, and it’s unclear who could step up to give the Knicks some quality production off the bench.</p><p>Even Tom Thibodeau, a head coach notorious for giving his players as many minutes as they can handle, will need to rely on more than just five players to achieve their goal of winning a championship.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Knicks’ creativity with Mikal Bridges trade enabled Karl-Anthony Towns deal

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-mikal-bridges-not-planning-extension-knicks');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Mikal Bridges not planning to sign 2-year extension with Knicks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IMG_0803.jpeg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Mikal Bridges not planning to sign 2-year extension with Knicks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-29T16:56:04-07:00">September 29th, 4:56pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-29T16:56:04-07:00">September 29th, 4:56pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-karl-anthony-towns-stunned-timberwolves-knicks-trade">Knicks just pulled off the biggest trade</a> of the offseason in acquiring Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. But before that, they signaled their intentions to contend in the Eastern Conference with a previous trade. The Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets, but he <a href="https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/277436/Mikal-Bridges-Unlikely-To-Sign-Two-Year-Extension-With-Knicks-With-Preference-For-Longer-Deal-In-2025" rel="noopener">reportedly isn’t looking to sign</a> a contract extension with the team just yet as per ESPN insider Bobby Marks.</p><p>“The indication I’ve gotten just from talking to people is that there is not going to be an extension,” Marks reported. “That he will wait until next year to look at what the extension. . .because he’s limited as far as the sixth-month rule as far as what he can extend for. Next year, he can extend for four years.”</p><p>Marks also reported that it’s possible Mikal Bridges’ thinking could change before the Oct. 21 deadline to sign a contract extension. That the initial decision was before the Towns trade was made.</p><p>With Bridges and Towns now in the fold, the Knicks are expected to be contenders in the Eastern Conference. They finished last season with the second best record in the East and advanced to the East Semifinals before falling to the Indiana Pacers in seven games.</p><h2>Mikal Bridges ready to begin Knicks career</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Mikal-Bridges-attacks-the-defense.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Prior to the Towns deal, the Knicks big offseason move was bringing in Mikal Bridges in a trade with the Nets. Aside from Bridges’ talent on the court, the deal was significant in that it reunited him with his former Villanova teammates in Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart.</p><p>But fans will never get to see the Villanova quartet in action as DiVincenzo was sent to Minnesota as part of the Towns trade.</p><p>In any case, Bridges will help the Knicks on both ends of the court. Last season, he appeared in all 82 games for the Nets at a little over 34 minutes per game. He averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 43.6 percent shooting from the field, 37.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 81.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><p>With the Knicks’ new additions, Bridges and Towns look like they’ll slot right in to the starting lineup alongside Brunson, Hart and OG Anunoby. With Mitchell Robinson expected to be sidelined to start the season due to injury, Towns’ acquisition is big in that the Knicks have someone who can step right in and play center. They also lost Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Mikal Bridges not planning to sign 2-year extension with Knicks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-mikal-bridges-jalen-brunson-roast-1-on-1-game');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson roast each other over 1-on-1 game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Mikal-Bridges-Jalen-Brunson-roast-each-other-over-1-on-1-game.jpg"></figure><h1>Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson roast each other over 1-on-1 game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-20T19:18:28-07:00">September 20th, 7:18pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-20T19:18:28-07:00">September 20th, 7:18pm</time><address><a>Nathan Yasis</a>Nathan Yasis is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, specializing in the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-mikal-bridges-to-follow-in-jalen-brunsons-footsteps-with-next-knicks-contract">Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges</a> put on a show for the live audience at Central Park during The Roommates Show. The longtime friends and former Villanova teammates, now both with the New York Knicks, engaged in playful trash talk that hinted at an exciting season ahead.</p><p>Bridges wasted no time taking shots at Brunson during the recent episode, setting the tone for their fun rivalry.</p><p>When asked about his excitement to team up with Knicks’ defensive powerhouse OG Anunoby, Bridges expressed his enthusiasm. He <a href="https://www.twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1837232323106066894" rel="noopener">highlighted that the squad</a> is stacked with strong defenders across all positions, making it an exciting prospect.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jalen Brunson: “I have busted your ass for years. Don’t do that… Best defender, my ass.”</p><p>Mikal Bridges: “I packed you up the last time we played.” </p><p>Brunson: “I’m 6’2 and you can’t guard me in the post.” 😂</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/Roommates__Show?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Roommates__Show</a>)<a href="https://t.co/R3u5zep4Br">pic.twitter.com/R3u5zep4Br</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1837232323106066894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Mikal Bridges taking a jab at Jalen Brunson’s defensive skills</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Jalen-Brunson-driving-against-Mikal-Bridges.jpg"><figcaption>Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While making the claim, Bridges gave Brunson a playful side-eye, implying he wasn’t quite the defensive expert. Brunson didn’t take the jab lightly, quickly firing back, sparking a hilarious argument between the two teammates.</p><p>“I have busted your ass for years. Don’t do that. Don’t look at me like that. Best defender, my ass.” Brunson reacted.</p><p>“I packed you up the last time we played,” Bridges reacted.</p><p>Brunson then interjected, “I’m 6’2 and you can’t guard me in the post.”</p><p>Beyond their Villanova days, Brunson and Bridges have faced off in the NBA, including matchups between the Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets. With plenty of game film on each other, they could easily dive into detailed video analysis. Additionally, Brunson holds an edge when it comes to playoff success.</p><p>While with the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson helped eliminate the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-mikal-bridges-suns-lowest-point-nba-career">Phoenix Suns, Bridges’ former team</a>, in a dominant 123-90 victory during Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinals. This explains Brunson’s strong confidence when facing Bridges.</p><p>Brunson even suggested to livestream their 1-on-1.</p><p>“Like I said, you got a 6’8 ‘Defender’ that can’t guard a 6’2 player,” Jalen Brunson reiterated.</p><p>The audience burst into laughter when Brunson, the Knicks’ standout guard, questioned Bridges’ ability to defend him in the post. Not missing a beat, Bridges responded with a playful dig about <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-josh-hart-drops-bobblehead-jalen-brunson-take-on-seth-meyers-show">the size of Brunson’s head</a>, adding to the fun exchange.</p><p>“Listen, hold up. We know how your f**king head fakes is bruh. When you got a big a*s head and you go this way, I got to bite. I got to go this way,” Mikal Bridges playfully added.</p><h2><b>The new look New York Knicks showing great chemistry</b></h2><p>The exchange between the two had the crowd in stitches, reminiscent of the amusing back-and-forths between Hart and Brunson on the podcast, as well as their antics during interviews. If this playful rivalry is any indication, Bridges appears to be an excellent addition to the Knicks.</p><p>The Knicks dominated the regular-season series against the Nets in the 2023-24 season, so Bridges might have been referencing a potential one-on-one contest. While their playful exchanges during the podcast were entertaining, that competitive energy is sure to heighten the Knicks’ intensity for the upcoming 2024-25 season.</p><p>With Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart already on the roster, the addition of Bridges enhances the Knicks’ team chemistry, positioning them among the best in the league.</p><p>The four players won a championship together in 2016, and Brunson, DiVincenzo, and Bridges secured another title in 2018 after Hart moved on to the NBA. This shared history could provide the Knicks with a competitive edge as the “Villanova Knicks” aim for a championship this season.</p><p>While initial indications are promising, it’s still uncertain whether the chemistry between the Villanova alumni will translate as effectively on the court as it does off of it.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson roast each other over 1-on-1 game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-mikal-bridges-suns-lowest-point-nba-career');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mikal Bridges name drops Suns as lowest point in NBA career');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Mikal-Bridges-namedrops-Suns-as-lowest-point-in-NBA-career.jpg"></figure><h1>Mikal Bridges name drops Suns as lowest point in NBA career</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-20T16:48:58-07:00">September 20th, 4:48pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-21T15:28:38-07:00">September 21st, 3:28pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks pulled off one of the biggest moves of the offseason in acquiring wing <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-gm-sean-marks-reveals-why-took-knicks-mikal-bridges-trade-offer">Mikal Bridges in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets</a>. The trade reunites Bridges with his former Villanova teammates in Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart.</p><p>And speaking of former teammates, Bridges recently appeared on an episode of Brunson and Hart’s podcast, “The Roommates Show,” where he was <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1836880786831679633" rel="noopener">asked about the lowest point of his NBA career</a> so far. Mikal Bridges responded with his early days with the Phoenix Suns.</p><p>“I’ll say my rookie year was tough, winning 19 games,” Bridges said.</p><p>Bridges’ answer provoked a hilarious response from Hart who joked about the vibes of that Suns team.</p><p>“Y’all was just out there for fun,” Hart quipped. “They had no aspirations. They were just out there dancing, having a blast.”</p><p>Mikal Bridges was originally drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the No. 10 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft before the Sixers traded him to the Suns in a draft-day trade. Bridges ended up being the only player on the Suns roster that year to appear in all 82 games. He would play 4½ more seasons for the Suns before they traded him to the Nets.</p><h2><b>Mikal Bridges ready to help Knicks turn into a contender</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Mikal-Bridges-attacks-the-defense.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>When the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/former-net-mikal-bridges-defends-himself-reports-forced-knicks-trade">Knicks pulled off the trade for Bridges</a> this summer, the prevailing thought amongst NBA fans and media alike was that the Knicks were serious about contending in the Eastern Conference. They finished last season with the second-best record in the East before falling to the Indiana Pacers in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.</p><p>But with Bridges on the roster, not only did the Knicks add more offensive firepower, but they have one of the top wing defensive combinations alongside OG Anunoby. The organization also re-signed Anunoby in free agency giving the Knicks one of the deepest rosters in the NBA.</p><p>Last season, Bridges emerged as an intriguing rising player with the Nets. He played all 82 games in his first full season in Brooklyn, averaging 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals. He shot 43.6 percent from the field, 37.2 percent from the three-point line and 81.4 percent from the free-throw line.</p><p>The on-court chemistry is sure to be strong as well with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/villanova-basketball-news-wildcats-have-perfect-4-word-reaction-to-mikal-bridges-trade">Bridges getting to rejoin his college friends</a> in Brunson, DiVincenzo and Hart. All four players were key members of the 2016 Wildcats national championship team under head coach Jay Wright.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mikal Bridges name drops Suns as lowest point in NBA career

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/kendrick-perkins-mikal-bridges-jrue-holiday-comparison-will-fire-up-knicks-fans');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kendrick Perkins’ Mikal Bridges-Jrue Holiday comparison will fire up Knicks fans');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Knicks-news-Kendrick-Perkins-Mikal-Bridges-Jrue-Holiday-comparison-will-fire-up-fans.jpg"></figure><h1>Kendrick Perkins’ Mikal Bridges-Jrue Holiday comparison will fire up Knicks fans</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-16T15:27:03-07:00">September 16th, 3:27pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-16T15:27:03-07:00">September 16th, 3:27pm</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While on ESPN, former NBA player Kendrick Perkins was asked what move this offseason will move the needle the most, and he said the New York Knicks’ acquisition of Mikal Bridges is that move while <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1835779657217478875" rel="noopener">comparing him to</a> Jrue Holiday joining the Boston Celtics.</p><p>“I’m going with the New York Knicks getting Mikal Bridges,” Kendrick Perkins said on ESPN. “Look, he could be what Jrue Holiday is for the Boston Celtics. That’s how elite this young man is on both ends of the floor. We saw it when Phoenix made that run with Devin Booker and CP3 to the NBA Finals, and just remember a couple seasons ago he averaged 26 points, and I know he only played in about 27 games, but still I’m to the point now where I don’t even look at Mikal Bridges as a role player. He’s a guy that’s an All-Star caliber player, and I think that was the best addition this offseason, plus he’s a Tom Thibodeau type of guy.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“He could be what Jrue Holiday is for the Boston Celtics. That’s how elite this young man is on both ends of the floor… He’s a guy that’s an All-Star caliber player."</p><p>Kendrick Perkins on Mikal Bridges' addition to the Knicks 🙌</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNNBA</a>)<a href="https://t.co/QtTd4ScGRa">pic.twitter.com/QtTd4ScGRa</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1835779657217478875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2-unlikely-julius-randle-trades-knicks-should-pursue">The Knicks are</a> betting that Mikal Bridges joining his college teammates in Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo, among the other quality players in an established culture with Tom Thibodeau, helps them challenge for an NBA title this season. It was quite a package <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-ny-bolsters-roster-nba-free-agency-signing">the Knicks gave up</a> for Bridges, but they clearly believe he was the missing piece to make them title contenders. Perkins is all-in on the move, as evidenced by his take on ESPN.</p><h2><b>Knicks set for exciting season with Mikal Bridges in the fold</b></h2><p>It will be interesting to see how Bridges fares with the Knicks, and it does help that he knows how to play with his former Villanova teammates. Jalen Brunson will still lead the way as the main star of the team, while Julius Randle will return from shoulder surgery as well as another source of offense.</p><p>Bridges joins OG Anunoby to create what should be an elite wing duo. OG Anunoby, a three-and-d type of player who is one of the best wing defenders in the game re-signed with the team this summer. Bridges’ defense took a bit of a dive with the Brooklyn Nets as he assumed the main role on offense, but he should be playing a similar role to what he had with the Phoenix Suns, when he was in contention for the Defensive Player of the Year Award.</p><p>The Knicks already had a good team that could have made the Eastern Conference Finals with a little bit better injury luck, but with Bridges in the fold, they are a team to watch for this season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kendrick Perkins’ Mikal Bridges-Jrue Holiday comparison will fire up Knicks fans

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-mikal-bridges-nsfw-response-fans-hating-on-nets');   ga('set', 'title', 'Knicks guard Mikal Bridges’ NSFW response to fans hating on Nets');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Knicks-news-Mikal-Bridges-NSFW-response-to-fans-hating-on-Nets.jpg"></figure><h1>Knicks guard Mikal Bridges’ NSFW response to fans hating on Nets</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-08T13:19:53-07:00">September 8th, 1:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-08T13:19:53-07:00">September 8th, 1:19pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks made one of the bigger splashes of the 2024 NBA offseason by trading a shocking amount of first round picks to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for small forward Mikal Bridges. While many <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-julius-randle-jersey-truth-comes-light-at-madison-square-garden">criticized the Knicks</a> for essentially mortgaging their entire future for a player who has never made an All-Star game, New York hopes that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-2024-offseason-recap-mikal-bridges-trade-paves-path-title-contention">Bridges trade will allow</a> them to compete with the Boston Celtics for Eastern Conference supremacy.</p><p>Bridges didn’t taste a <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/09/08/sports/mikal-bridges-cant-wait-to-start-season-with-psycho-knicks/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social" rel="noopener">whole lot of success</a> during his time with the Nets, where he was traded during the 2023 season as part of the package for Kevin Durant. In 2023, Brooklyn lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, and last year, the Nets missed the playoffs altogether.</p><p>However, it appears that  Bridges still has some love for his time in Brooklyn, as evidenced during his appearance at a recent Knicks fan event in Central Park, where reference to the Nets drew boo’s from the crowd, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.</p><p>“Y’all should appreciate Brooklyn because it made me better,” Bridges said, later adding, “F–k, my game grew there.”</p><p>Bridges also spoke on just how excited he is to get started in a Knicks uniform.</p><p>“Long offseason. I got the itch right now,” said Bridges. “I’m ready right now. I’m active. It’s been too long.”</p><h2><b>How much will Bridges help the Knicks?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Bridges-at-MSG.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The tandem of Bridges and Knicks forward OG Anunoby–who was resigned in the offseason to a maximum contract–is sure to be one of the, if not the best wing defender duos anywhere in the NBA. Adding to the Knicks’ chances is that both players are more than capable of knocking down perimeter shots and creating their own offense on occasion.</p><p>New York also of course still employs Jalen Brunson, who established himself as a legitimate star in the NBA this past season and overcame a rough start to put together an impressive playoff run vs the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round and the Indiana Pacers in the second before injuring his hand in Game 7 of that series.</p><p>The Knicks are also eagerly anticipating the return of power forward Julius Randle, who was injured in January vs the Miami Heat and missed the rest of the season as a result but will be ready for 2024-25.</p><p>In any case, the Knicks’ season gets underway on October 22 vs the Boston Celtics on the road.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Knicks guard Mikal Bridges’ NSFW response to fans hating on Nets

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-2024-offseason-recap-mikal-bridges-trade-paves-path-title-contention');   ga('set', 'title', 'Knicks 2024 offseason recap: Mikal Bridges trade paves path to title contention');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Knicks-2024-offseason-recap-Mikal-Bridges-trade-paves-path-to-title-contention.jpg"></figure><h1>Knicks 2024 offseason recap: Mikal Bridges trade paves path to title contention</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-22T12:42:07-07:00">August 22nd, 12:42pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-22T12:42:58-07:00">August 22nd, 12:42pm</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>There are two months until the 2024-25 NBA season begins, yet fans of the New York Knicks are already hyping up what could be one of the best years this historic organization has ever had. For years, the Knicks were bottom feeders in the Eastern Conference, simply looking for any reason not to be the laughing stock of the league. Those days are no more, as Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and an energetic roster have proven that New York is ready to be considered a real title contender. It also helps that the Knicks went out and made a huge move to bring in Mikal Bridges this offseason.</p><p>Out of all the teams in the NBA, the Knicks may just have been the most aggressive over the last year. After winning 47 games and making the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2022, Leon Rose and New York’s front office ended up pulling off a huge move at the trade deadline to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grading-og-anunoby-rj-barrett-immanuel-quickley-knicks-raptors-trade">acquire OG Anunoby</a>.</p><p>Although it was unfortunate that Anunoby was hurt for a chunk of time last season, the Knicks still managed to go 20-3 with the two-way forward on the court, helping them achieve a 50-win season for the first time since Carmelo Anthony was leading the team during the 2012-13 season.</p><p>Now that the window has opened for the Knicks to be true contenders in the East next to the likes of the Boston Celtics, who are coming off their 18th championship in franchise history, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grading-blockbuster-mikal-bridges-trade-involving-nets-knicks-rockets">Bridges became the clear answer</a> for who could complete this roster.</p><p>Known as the NBA’s ironman due to the fact that he has never missed a game, Bridges is the picture-perfect player to add to this roster for a couple of reasons. In addition to being a player head coach Tom Thibodeau can rely on for any amount of minutes in any game, Bridges also brings a level of versatility in the sense that he can wear multiple hats.</p><p>While he is labeled as a wing that tends to play off the ball, Bridges proved to be a secondary facilitator and ball-handler during his short stint with the Brooklyn Nets. He averaged a career-high 3.6 assists per game last season, and as the Nets’ focal scorer, Bridges began to take the next step in his career as a borderline All-Star-like talent.</p><p>Much like how Anunoby joined the team and immediately made his presence felt on both ends of the court, Bridges is going to hold a very similar role. The only difference is that, whereas Anunoby was more of a catch-and-shoot option who could help push the pace in transition, Bridges is that third-key star on offense that can create his own opportunities that the Knicks have been searching for.</p><p>Not to mention, Bridges is now reunited with Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart, as all four friends won a national championship together at Villanova in 2016. These four players have won a championship before, which is why the Knicks are confident that they can do so again.</p><p>Nobody is more excited for the 2024-25 NBA season than Knicks fans, and they have a lot of reasons to already begin celebrating what could wind up being a magical season after what was accomplished this offseason.</p><h2><b>Knicks key offseason additions and departures</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bridges-leaves-the-floor-1.jpg"><figcaption>Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p><i>Additions: F Mikal Bridges (Trade – BKN), F Keita Bates-Diop (Trade – BKN), G Cam Payne (FA – PHI), G Tyler Kolek (Draft), G Pacome Dadiet (Draft), </i></p><p><i>Departures: C Isaiah Hartenstein (FA – OKC), F Bojan Bogdanovic (Trade – BKN), G Alec Burks (FA – MIA), G Shake Milton (Trade – BKN)</i></p><p>The biggest addition that the Knicks made this offseason was adding Bridges in a trade that nobody thought was going to happen.</p><p>Even at the trade deadline in February, the Nets turned down numerous offers that came their way for Bridges because of his potential to become one of the faces of their team after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving left. Ultimately, with Brooklyn not seeing any chance of adding another star to pair with Bridges, the idea of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-gm-sean-marks-reveals-why-took-knicks-mikal-bridges-trade-offer">trading him while his value was at its highest</a> made the most sense.</p><p>In order to land Bridges, the Knicks had to send out four unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027, 2029, and 2031, as well as a top-4 protected 2025 first-round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks and an unprotected pick swap in 2028. A 2025 second-round pick, Bojan Bogdanovic, Mamadi Diakite, and Shake Milton were also included in this mega deal that sent Bridges, Keita Bates-Diop, and a 2026 second-round pick to New York.</p><p>This was the highlight of the trade market and free agency this offseason for the Knicks, especially when you look at their rotations now. Brunson, Randle, and Bridges will all be starting, with the last two spots likely going to Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson to create a lengthy and defensive-minded starting five. DiVincenzo, Hart, Miles McBride, and Precious Achiuwa will be the four names to own featured roles off the bench.</p><p>Other than trading for Bridges, the Knicks were limited in terms of what moves they could make due to their $180 million payroll exceeding the first tax apron. After executing this trade with the Nets, the next order of business for the Knicks was to retain what was theirs.</p><p>Anunoby was the team’s priority, as he secured a new five-year, $212.5 million contract ahead of free agency, and Brunson made the ultimate sacrifice by taking $113 million less than what he would’ve been eligible to receive next season. Brunson put pen to paper on a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-jalen-brunson-156-million-extension">new $156.5 million contract</a> that keeps him in a Knicks uniform through the 2028-29 season. However, Brunson is going to be the face of this franchise for many years to come after being named the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-jalen-brunson-earns-captain-honor-2024-25-season">36th captain in team history</a>.</p><p>It is only fitting that Brunson was named the captain of the Knicks since he has led this organization both on and off the court. The entire vibe surrounding the Knicks changed upon Brunson’s arrival in 2022, which is why he received this honor.</p><p>Upon agreeing to new deals with Anunoby and Brunson, keeping Thibodeau around and rewarding him for being one of the best coaches in the league was next on the list for the Knicks. The team agreed to a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-tom-thibodeau-3-year-extension">three-year extension</a> that keeps him in New York through the 2027-28 season.</p><p>The only downside to this offseason for the Knicks is that they weren’t able to keep Isaiah Hartenstein, who stepped up in the absence of Randle and Robinson in the frontcourt during the team’s postseason run. Hartenstein was great in a Knicks uniform, and the fans loved him, but the three-year, $87 million contract he got from the Oklahoma City Thunder was well out of New York’s pay range, especially since they had just acquired Bridges.</p><p>While losing Hartenstein was not ideal, the Knicks remain high on Robinson and Achiuwa. It is also possible that Thibodeau will go smaller at times, with Randle in the center position and the Villanova boys surrounding him.</p><p>The Knicks finally have rotational options, depth, and a will to win at the highest level possible. Bridges arriving and joining the mix is only going to make this team strong, but can his production on the court be enough to lift New York past Boston in the Eastern Conference?</p><h2><b>Mikal Bridges’ fit with Knicks</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Mikal-Bridges-vs.-Jalen-Brunson.jpg"><figcaption>Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>As good of a scorer as he is, Bridges is equally important on the defensive side of the floor. This is the main reason why he is going to be such an important piece in the Knicks’ championship equation.</p><p>When you think of the Knicks and what they accomplished this past season, the first thing that comes to mind is Brunson’s MVP-like heroics offensively. But what gets overlooked is that the team as a whole <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=OFF_RATING" rel="noopener">ranked</a> inside the top 10 in both offensive and defensive ratings. The Knicks, Celtics, Thunder, and Denver Nuggets are the only teams that can say they accomplished this over the course of the 2023-24 season.</p><p>The bottom line is that the Knicks are one of the best two-way teams in the league. Anunoby obviously helped them improve defensively, and Bridges is going to have a similar impact defensively.</p><p>Simply comparing the Knicks to the Celtics, New York finally has the personnel to be able to match up against the defending champions and feel confident in their ability to win. Anunoby and Bridges can guard both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, which allows the KNicks to devise a plan of attack offensively.</p><p>There is also the fact that Bridges is a very talented offensive player and can lead the Knicks in scoring when Brunson isn’t in the game or is struggling. This past season, Bridges averaged 19.6 points per game while shooting 43.6 percent from the floor and 37.2 percent from three-point range. Having this type of player, who can play at a high level on both ends of the court, is a luxury.</p><p>Bridges was the best option for New York this offseason. While the organization paid a lofty price to get him, this is a move that is going to pay itself off. Of course, winning a championship in 2025 would surely be enough to look back on this trade and deem it a win for the Knicks.</p><h2><b>Knicks 2024-25 season outlook</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Jalen-Brunson-with-the-New-York-Knicks.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>When you look at all the moves made across the NBA this offseason, it is quite hard to come up with an argument against the Knicks being the second-best team on paper. Obviously, the Celtics are going to rank first overall because of the stars they have and the fact that they just won the 2024 NBA Finals. But the Knicks are a very talented team with personnel that can fill a bunch of different needs.</p><p>In fact, there really isn’t any aspect in which the Knicks appear to be limited or weak.</p><p>Although the Knicks weren’t as strong of a defensive rebounding team last season, they made up for it with offensive rebounds. Even without Hartenstein, Randle’s return and Bridges’ ability to crash the glass will make up for the lost production. Offensively, the Knicks are only going to be a better scoring and shooting team with Bridges on the wing.</p><p>The Knicks have pushed all of their chips in at the NBA poker table. This is the roster that they believe can win at the highest level possible, and it is not out of the realm of possibilities to believe that the Knicks can improve their record and win more than 50 games this upcoming season.</p><p>Before the season begins, the Knicks are already being picked as the team with the best chance of going up against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. This task will not be easy to achieve, as there are a handful of teams in the East vying to contend against the likes of Boston.</p><p>Health is going to play a factor in New York, as will egos. The good news is that the Knicks haven’t had any problems with managing their emotions to this point, and they may just be the strongest team in the league when it comes to having a genuine bond.</p><p>The Knicks are legitimate championship contenders.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Knicks 2024 offseason recap: Mikal Bridges trade paves path to title contention

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nets-news-cam-thomas-gets-real-about-outlook-after-mikal-bridges-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cam Thomas gets real on Nets outlook after Mikal Bridges trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Nets-news-Cam-Thomas-gets-100-real-about-outlook-after-Mikal-Bridges-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>Cam Thomas gets real on Nets outlook after Mikal Bridges trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-19T19:13:43-07:00">August 19th, 7:13pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-19T19:13:43-07:00">August 19th, 7:13pm</time><address><a>Matty Breisch</a>Matty Breisch is a multifaceted writer who specializes in WWE content at ClutchPoints. He can be read at Heavy, Fansided, Philadelphia Sports Network, and right here at ClutchPoints. Are you ready to read about wrestling? Well, you've come to the right place.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After doing everything in his power to make the Brooklyn Nets into the sort of team that can attract star players like James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving, Cam Thomas finds himself looking a lot like the Will Smith empty room meme, with even <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grading-blockbuster-mikal-bridges-trade-involving-nets-knicks-rockets" rel="noopener">Mikal Bridges opting to leave BK</a> for the brighter light of Manhattan as a member of the New York Knicks.</p><p>What gives? How did things fall apart so spectacularly? While that particular topic is so fruitful, someone could probably write an entire book on it – and believe me, that will certainly happen – there’s nothing Thomas can do now but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-cam-thomas-new-role-future-mikal-bridges-trade">buckle in for his fourth professional season</a>, where he will either take the Nets to new heights, watch things fall apart spectacularly, or get traded to another team before the calendar flips from February to March.</p><p>Asked how it feels to see his Nets trade away their best player and presumably pack it in for a season where draft positioning seemingly matters more than playoff positioning in an interview with Slam, Thomas noted that he’s embracing his new role as a <a href="https://www.slamonline.com/the-magazine/251/cam-thomas-251/" rel="noopener">locker room leader</a>, as he needs to do everything in his power to build a foundation for the future in Brooklyn.</p><p>“Just knowing that and embracing it. Attacking it head-on. I’ve kind of been having those roles [as the leader of the team] ever since I was in high school and college. So, I’m not really worried about it. I’m just excited to get it going and to try to do it in the League. I’m not really worried about it at all; I’m just ready.”</p><p>While no one will question Thomas’ commitment to winning games for the Nets, as his scoring has singlehandedly put a few Ws on the record books for the Nets over the past few years, for Brooklyn to really take a step forward with the LSU product as one of its top players, he will need to improve on his defense too, as the Nets had a <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612751/onoffcourt-summary?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=DIFF_NET_RATING" rel="noopener">Net Rating differential of -5.1</a> when Thomas was on the court last season. Still, based on his comments to Slam, it sure sounds like Thomas is open to the task, as he’s no stranger to external motivation.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cam-Thomas-scoring-for-the-Nets-.jpg"><figcaption>Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><h2><b>Cam Thomas opens up about what motivates his game</b></h2><p>Speaking of Thomas’ status as one of the most polarizing players in the NFL today, with some fans loving his fearless scoring style and position versatility while others trash his defensive flaws and seeming stagnation on that end of the court, the pride of Yokosuka, Japan was asked about what motivates him in the NBA, be that external or internal.</p><p>While Thomas is no stranger to external criticism, as, again, he earns more than his fair share, he uses it as motivation, just like his burning desire to become one of the best players in the NBA, regardless of age or experience.</p><p>“It’s a little bit of both…I don’t really worry about the doubters because I’ve always had them. Nobody really believed in my talent and scoring ability—even at Oak Hill, and even in college, and even in the League. So, I’m used to it. Now, it’s really just self-motivation. Even down to sliding in the draft all the way down to pick 27. I still carry that chip on my shoulder. And even with the Nets, not playing consistently my first two years. I have that in my back pocket so I can keep growing and keep improving…to show why you should have played me in my first two years,” Thomas told Slam.</p><p>“I’m not focused on trying to prove myself anymore. Everybody knows I’m one of the top young scorers—top young guards—in the League now. So, it’s really just trying to maximize my ability, see where I can take it and become the best player I can be, this year, and for years to come.”</p><p>While scoring the ball has never been an issue for Thomas, as he was averaging 8.5 points per game on 17.6 minutes a night as a rookie, he really came into his own last season, where he scored an average of 22.5 points per game on 18 shots while starting 51 of the 66 games he appeared in. Sure, he has his flaws, and maybe he will never be more than a premier sparkplug scorer at the NBA level, but when you consider there were only 25 players who averaged more points per game than Thomas, and every single one of them did so in more minutes per game as full-time starters – yes, really, look it up – his growth as a 22-year-old deserves far more credit than it regularly receives.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cam Thomas gets real on Nets outlook after Mikal Bridges trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mikal-bridge-revenge-matchup-after-nets-knicks-trade-nba-cup');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mikal Bridges’ first revenge matchup after Nets-Knicks trade is during NBA Cup');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Mikal-Bridges-first-revenge-matchup-after-Nets-Knicks-trade-is-during-NBA-Cup.jpg"></figure><h1>Mikal Bridges’ first revenge matchup after Nets-Knicks trade is during NBA Cup</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-14T10:01:51-07:00">August 14th, 10:01am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-14T10:02:45-07:00">August 14th, 10:02am</time><address><a>Erik Slater</a>Erik Slater is the credentialed Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for ClutchPoints. He's a graduate of Lehigh University and the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, as well as a Lehigh Football and Syracuse Football alum.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA released its full schedule for the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2024-nba-cup-east-group-a-breakdown-predictions">2024 In-Season Tournament</a>, and New York basketball fans will have one matchup circled on their calendars. The Brooklyn Nets will open the tournament, now known as The Emirates NBA Cup, against the New York Knicks on Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden. Barring a matchup in the season’s opening weeks, it will be the first meeting between the two teams since the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grading-blockbuster-mikal-bridges-trade-involving-nets-knicks-rockets">Nets’ stunning trade</a> that sent Mikal Bridges to the Knicks.</p><p>The game will feature several intriguing storylines.</p><p>Shortly after news of the deal broke, SNY’s Ian Begley <a href="https://x.com/IanBegley/status/1805783843594473962" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Bridges told Brooklyn he wanted to be traded to New York. The report also said the 27-year-old was prepared to leverage his way to the crosstown rival by telling other prospective trade partners that he only wanted to play for the Knicks. Another report from the New York Post’s Brian Lewis said Bridges’ desire for a Villanova reunion at Madison Square Garden had <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/06/26/sports/mikal-bridges-trade-puts-nets-in-full-tank-mode-and-its-going-to-be-ugly/" rel="noopener">grown</a> during the 2023-24 season.</p><p>Bridges <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/former-net-mikal-bridges-defends-himself-reports-forced-knicks-trade">denied these allegations</a> on multiple occasions. Nets general manager Sean Marks <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-gm-sean-marks-reveals-why-took-knicks-mikal-bridges-trade-offer">also denied that Bridges requested a trade</a> to New York, saying he took the deal because it was the best package to set up his organization long-term.</p><p>“I think it’s been reported that Mikal wanted to leave or requested a trade. That could not be further from the truth,” Marks said. “I think that’s just not in Mikal’s character. It’s not who he is. And that definitely did not happen.”</p><p>“I think [this trade] sets us up on a very, very clear direction and pathway to continue to build this team with sustainable success, and that’s that’s the ultimate goal here… This was by far the best deal for our organization at this particular time.”</p><p>The Nov. 15 meeting between the Nets and Knicks will also be Bridges’ first time playing against his former teammate Cam Johnson, barring another trade. The Phoenix Suns selected the pair of wings in the first round of back-to-back drafts in 2018 and 2019. Upon joining the Suns, Bridges and Johnson quickly earned the nickname “The Twins” due to their close friendship and similar roles.</p><p>Johnson <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-cam-johnson-has-honest-reaction-losing-mikal-bridges-knicks">spoke about the trade</a> at the NBA Summer League. While he said he’ll miss having Bridges as a teammate, he understands business trumps everything in the NBA.</p><p>“You just gotta understand that this is a business, and teams are gonna do what’s in their best interest, and players will do what’s in their best interest,” Johnson said of Bridges’ departure. “My relationship [with Mikal] goes beyond basketball. It goes beyond a team. That’s my brother for life and I wish him the best, that’s all it comes down to. Except when he plays us.”</p><p>The Nov. 15 meeting will be one of four matchups between the Nets and Knicks next season. After Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving led Brooklyn to nine straight wins over New York from 2021 to 2023, the Knicks have won the last six installments of the crosstown rivalry.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mikal Bridges’ first revenge matchup after Nets-Knicks trade is during NBA Cup

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-projected-2024-25-rotation-mikal-bridges-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Knicks projected 2024-25 rotation after Mikal Bridges trade, Isaiah Hartenstein exit');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Knicks-projected-2024-25-rotation-after-Mikal-Bridges-trade-Isaiah-Hartenstein-exit.jpg"></figure><h1>Knicks projected 2024-25 rotation after Mikal Bridges trade, Isaiah Hartenstein exit</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-01T08:53:24-07:00">August 1st, 8:53am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-01T08:53:24-07:00">August 1st, 8:53am</time><address><a>Drew Maresca</a>Drew Maresca is a NY-area writer and researcher who has covered the NBA for more than 5 years. Prior to joining ClutchPoints to cover the New York Knicks, Drew wrote for Basketball News and Basketball Insiders. Drew has conducted interviews inside NBA locker rooms including Madison Square Garden, the Barclays Center, and the Kia Center, and he covered the 2019 NBA Draft in-person from Brooklyn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks’ roster was well-stocked prior to trading <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-new-yorks-massive-mikal-bridges-trade-splits-nba-fans">for star guard Mikal Bridges</a> and signing <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-cam-payne-point-guard-new-york">journeyman point guard Cameron Payne</a>. Their rotation became inarguably tighter since. And while every team other than the defending champions can stand to make a tweak or two to improve their chances, the calculus involved in understanding the right number of players in a rotation on a talented team and when to play whom seems nearly impossible. And that’s exactly what Knicks’ coach Tom Thibodeau is contending with currently, as he considers his rotations for the upcoming season. </p><h2><b>Notes on Knicks’ rotation</b></h2><p>When it comes to a realistic rotation, we have to begin with what we know. That means Jalen Brunson, Bridges, OG Anunoby, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson are in. That’s unquestionably New York’s starting five. Is Bridges a natural shooting guard? Will Randle remain on the roster? And if he does, is he the best fit with the other four starters? These are pointless questions. These five will be the starters on opening night. And no matter how much tinkering coach Thibodeau does, all five will inevitably remain in the rotation so long as they remain healthy.</p><p>Thibodeau’s rotation will probably not go deeper than nine players, at least on most nights; however, we’ll consider 10. That means there will be five Knicks “regularly” entering games from the bench.</p><p>A look back reveals that Knicks’ starters averaged 160.1 of a possible 240 minutes per night. We can assume that holds for 2024-25. Granted, this number requires some assumptions like Bridges receiving the same minutes as DiVincenzo (even though he’ll likely play more), and Robinson playing the same minutes per game as Isaiah Hartenstein, which is fair if you look at Hartenstein’s average across the season and not how much he played when he was healthy and Robinson was not. </p><p>But if we assume that starters continue to consume roughly 160 minutes per game, there will be approximately 80 minutes remaining to divide between the five bench players in the rotation. </p><h2><b>Who else is in the Knicks’ rotation?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Precious-Achiuwa-defends-the-Indiana-Pacers-Pascal-Siakam-in-the-2024-NBA-Playoffs.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The “who” in this equation isn’t too difficult to answer, especially since <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-precious-achiuwa-returns-6-million-contract-free-agency">Precious Achiuwa re-signed for</a> one-year at $6 million. The first three Knicks are inarguably Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, and Miles McBride. They carved out specific roles after the All-Star break last season. And they gave us no reason to believe they won’t remain in the rotation.</p><p>Achiuwa has an obvious place in the rotation, too, as the only option at backup center. That’s an even more important role for New York considering how injury prone Robinson has been throughout his career. </p><p>Will Achiuwa’s size (six-foot-eight) require regular Jericho Sims appearances? It’s possible. Therefore, by virtue of need (and not necessarily talent), we’ll call Sims the 10th man in the team’s rotation. </p><p>Unfortunately for Knicks’ fans, the signing of Payne and drafting of rookie sensation Tyler Kolek are both merely luxuries. Realistically, it appears that Payne was brought in just in case an injury takes place. And Kolek will probably have a greater impact in 2025-26 and beyond. Although it is worth mentioning that Kolek’s play in Summer League probably helped convince Rokas Jokubaitis to sign with Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv. So, while he probably won’t receive consistent minutes, it’s feasible that we get semi-regular glimpses of the Marquette product. </p><h2><b>Knicks’ depth chart</b></h2><p>New York’s depth chart will probably look like this for the beginning of the season:</p><p><b>Point Guard:</b> Brunson, Payne, Kolek</p><p><b>Shooting Guard:</b> Bridges, DiVincenzo</p><p><b>Small Forward:</b> Anunoby, Keita Bates Diop</p><p><b>Power Forward:</b> Randle, Hart</p><p><b>Center:</b> Robinson, Achiuwa, Sims, Ariel Hukporti</p><p>But a depth chart doesn’t reveal much about who plays with whom and when. Realistically, looking beyond the starting five, Thibodeau will probably substitute Hart and DiVincenzo for Bridges and Randle sometime in the first quarter. We can expect an Achiuwa-for-Robinson substitution in the first quarter, too.</p><p>Beyond that, the actual rotation is anyone’s guess. How many minutes will McBride play alongside Brunson if DiVincenzo is the team’s backup shooting guard? And if he’s not playing backup point guard minutes, how much playing time does he realistically receive? If he ends up playing backup point guard minutes, what does that mean for Payne? How do the Knicks maximize Hart’s minutes? That’s an especially interesting question considering how much more Hart impacted games when playing longer minutes. And finally, how do they handle their center rotation?</p><p>These are all incredibly valid questions, especially for a team on the precipice of true legitimacy. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait-and-see. On the bright side, Thibodeau’s maniacal approach to the game should put these types of concerns to bed. He’s almost certainly considered these questions (and more). And while whatever solution he’s concocted is purely hypothetical, he’s earned our trust.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Knicks projected 2024-25 rotation after Mikal Bridges trade, Isaiah Hartenstein exit

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-mikal-bridges-blames-josh-harts-trolling-for-tampering-accusations');   ga('set', 'title', 'Knicks’ Mikal Bridges blames Josh Hart’s trolling for tampering accusations');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Knicks-news-Mikal-Bridges-blames-Josh-Harts-trolling-for-tampering-accusations.jpg"></figure><h1>Knicks’ Mikal Bridges blames Josh Hart’s trolling for tampering accusations</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-22T12:04:05-07:00">July 22nd, 12:04pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-22T12:04:54-07:00">July 22nd, 12:04pm</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks made a splash with their trade for Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets this offseason, pairing him with his former Villanova teammates in Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. Since Bridge’s days with the Nets, many speculated about him joining his Villanova teammates, and Bridges blamed Hart’s jokes about a potential trade <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWFSc8Nm47U&amp;list=PLfpqj02tQor-DSumZ5zktaIJ2kjMhkfLN&amp;t=1271s" rel="noopener">for tampering accusations</a> that fans speculated about.</p><p>“Coming out of college we were winning but we were all just trying to make the league and be there,” Mikal Bridges said on Podcast P wit Paul George, presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment. “I guess it was Jalen and Josh were the first two, and then Donte went and I guess especially when Donte got there, you know the media, and I was in Brooklyn at the time, it’s so easy to just throw my name out there because I’m right there and I’m a good fit for them. But no, we didn’t really talk much honestly. I think when it kind of got close to that point when I was in Brooklyn and obviously Josh, you know he’s the biggest troll in the damn world. Making Brooklyn fans hate me, making all these damn jokes, like bro what are you doing. We didn’t really think about it too much man, I think we were all just excited to be in the league and just crazy how things happen.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-top-takeaways-2024-nba-summer-league">The Knicks are</a> hoping that Bridges is a seamless fit with his old college teammates, as well as Julius Randle and OG Anunoby. New York has been strategically adding pieces, and while the Bridges trade took a lot of draft picks, the salary is vital and meant <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-mikal-bridges-hilariously-announces-jersey-number-change">that the Knicks</a> would not have to give up a player. Bridges joins an already-established culture, and it will be about fitting him in.</p><h2><b>Why the Mikal Bridges trade made sense over other options</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Mikal-Bridges-vs-the-Knicks.jpg"><figcaption>Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The biggest component that many bring up when it comes to the Knicks adding Bridges is the defensive component pairing him with OG Anunoby, specifically when it comes to competing with the Boston Celtics in the eastern Conference. It is right that Bridges and Anunoby give the Knicks a chance to defend the Celtics like no other eastern conference team can. In general, the defensive versatility is super valuable as well.</p><p>However, Bridges, unlike another option like Paul George, or other star players who were more expensive, likely would have required Julius Randle going the other way. Instead, the Knicks add Bridges at about $23-24 million each of the next two years, who knows how to play with the Villanova players. That also allows the Knicks to keep an all-NBA player in Randle.</p><p>Not to mention, it has been reported that Bridges is likely to take a discount, similar to how Jalen Brunson did this offseason with the extension that he agreed to. It will be interesting to see how Bridges fits in with the Knicks this season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Knicks’ Mikal Bridges blames Josh Hart’s trolling for tampering accusations

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-mikal-bridges-hilariously-announces-jersey-number-change');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mikal Bridges hilariously announces Knicks jersey number change');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Knicks-Mikal-Bridges.jpg"></figure><h1>Mikal Bridges hilariously announces Knicks jersey number change</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-22T10:11:53-07:00">July 22nd, 10:11am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-22T10:11:53-07:00">July 22nd, 10:11am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Mikal Bridges is forming the Villanova Infinity Gauntlet on the New York Knicks. Teaming up with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and the talented Knicks’ roster will give him a new chance to play for a competitive team.</p><p>Bridges was originally announced to wear No. 1 with his new team, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C9Q0oXmPCgV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==" rel="noopener">holding up his new jersey</a> at his introduction, but he is now making a change. He’s going back to No. 25, making the reunion with his Villanova teammates even more like old times.</p><p>Bridges <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1815415901748908528" rel="noopener">announced the change himself</a>, acknowledging how many people had already ordered his Knicks jersey. At the very least, he’s announcing this with plenty of time for fans to get the right jersey before the regular season begins.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Switching back to #25 .. have a blessed day .. sorry for the ones that bought #1 jerseys already😓</p><p>— Mikal Bridges (@mikal_bridges) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikal_bridges/status/1815400239097913390?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p> </p><h2><b>Mikal Bridges fortifies Knicks’ depth on the wing</b></h2><p>After wearing No. 1 with the Brooklyn Nets, Bridges is going back to No. 25 after wearing it with the Phoenix Suns, Villanova and in high school.</p><p>The ‘Nova Knicks are more than happy to welcome Bridges <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-josh-harts-hilarious-reaction-mikal-bridges-nyc-arrival">into the fold</a>. He will form a fantastic wing duo with OG Anunoby, who can each guard a variety of stars and provide spacing for Brunson and Julius Randle to cook defenders. Bridges was overextended as the top option for the Nets but should now be in a role he can excel in.</p><p>After spending one and a half years with the Nets, listening to Hart and others joke about how it’s inevitable that he’ll come to the Knicks, Bridges is finally on his way there. He <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/former-net-mikal-bridges-defends-himself-reports-forced-knicks-trade">shot down the idea</a> that he demanded a trade, insisting that he did his best to win in Brooklyn. But with the Nets so far away from being a good team, they decided to actually rebuild, striking a rare trade with their rival in New York City.</p><p>The Knicks are seen as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference along with the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. The addition of Mikal Bridges is one of the major reasons why.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mikal Bridges hilariously announces Knicks jersey number change

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nets-news-cam-thomas-new-role-future-mikal-bridges-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cam Thomas opens up on new role, future with Nets after Mikal Bridges trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Nets-Cam-Thomas-opens-up-on-new-role-future-in-Brooklyn-after-Mikal-Bridges-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>Cam Thomas opens up on new role, future with Nets after Mikal Bridges trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-16T14:19:31-07:00">July 16th, 2:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-16T17:06:02-07:00">July 16th, 5:06pm</time><address><a>Erik Slater</a>Erik Slater is the credentialed Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for ClutchPoints. He's a graduate of Lehigh University and the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, as well as a Lehigh Football and Syracuse Football alum.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Make no mistake, the Brooklyn Nets are Cam Thomas’ team in 2024-25. After the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-cam-johnson-has-honest-reaction-losing-mikal-bridges-knicks">stunning trade</a> that sent Mikal Bridges to the crosstown rival New York Knicks, the Nets are entering a rebuild with their <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cooper-flagg-headlines-2025-nba-draft-prospects-nets-tank-for">eye on a top selection</a> in next year’s draft. While qualifying for the postseason will <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/why-nets-head-coach-jordi-fernandez-excited-after-mikal-bridges-trade">not be a top priority</a> for Brooklyn, the transitional year offers an opportunity for Thomas, who will enter the season as the team’s top offensive option.</p><p>The 22-year-old flashed his potential as an offensive engine after cracking the Nets’ rotation in 2023-24. Thomas led Brooklyn in scoring, averaging 22.5 points per game on 44/36/86 shooting splits. His 11.9-point jump in scoring average was the highest of any player in the league.</p><p>Most importantly, he <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-cam-thomas-gets-real-controversial-start-brooklyn-discussing-playmaking-growth">improved as a playmaker</a>, averaging 4.0 assists per game over a two-month stretch during the second half of the year. The LSU product finished seventh in the NBA’s <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2024.html#all_mip" rel="noopener">Most Improved Player voting</a>.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Some Cam Thomas dimes for you. <a href="https://t.co/yj8sppDrCF">pic.twitter.com/yj8sppDrCF</a></p><p>— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1773191714494160926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Thomas is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is eligible for an extension this summer. While the timing of his expanded workload in Brooklyn may be fortuitous, the Nets guard will have a full season to showcase himself to league executives.</p><h2><b>ClutchPoints exclusive with Nets’ Cam Thomas </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Cam-Thomas-getting-contested-by-LeBron-James.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Thomas spoke with ClutchPoints at the NBA Summer League about Brooklyn’s new direction, expectations for his role next season, his contract situation and more.</p><p><b>CP: The Mikal Bridges trade sent the Nets in a new direction. What are your expectations for your role this season? Do you think it changes?</b></p><p><b>Thomas:</b> “I wouldn’t say it changes, but [there will] probably be more of an emphasis on what I’m supposed to do, you know, scoring the ball and playmaking for the guys. So I wouldn’t necessarily say it changes what I do, because I’ve been doing the same thing since I’ve been here. I’ll probably just take it to a different level, for sure.”</p><p><b>CP: When did you learn about the trade, and what was your reaction?</b></p><p><b>Thomas:</b> “I was getting ready to go back to New York. It was late at night, and I was packing to go back up, actually. And then somebody sent it to me and I was like, ‘Is that real?’ I was confused. And then they were like, ‘Yeah.’ I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ Whatever happens, happens. I love Mikal. He’s a great guy, great player, but I guess that’s the direction we gotta go in, so we gotta see how it goes.”</p><p><b>CP: You’ve seen James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Mikal Bridges traded within less than three seasons. What has it been like adjusting on the fly through all these transactions?</b></p><p><b>Thomas:</b> “I’m kinda used to it at this point, all this crazy stuff that’s been going on my first three years. It’s been crazy, but it’s just part of the business, like everybody says. You can’t really put your feelings into it or dwell on it. This is where [general manager] Sean [Marks] thinks we should go, so we gotta follow his lead and try to put the best product on the floor. We’re gonna try to do that.”</p><p><b>CP: You showed a lot of development during the second half of last year. Do you have any specific goals entering your fourth NBA season?</b></p><p><b>Thomas:</b> “Just being more of a leader. I’m really honing in on that and starting early with that. I kind of did it towards the second half of last year because it’s something I wanted to try as the year went on. I’m gonna try to start this year off focusing on that because, honestly, I am [a leader]. I think I’m the second-longest tenured guy on the team, so I am one of the leaders on the team. So I’m definitely trying to hone in on that.”</p><p><b>CP: Was there a moment when you felt like you shifted from being one of the young guys to being a leader? When did that reality set in?</b></p><p><b>Thomas:</b> “Probably as soon as the summer started. You look at the roster and you’re like, ‘Dang.’ Then obviously when Mikal got traded, that’s when it really clicked in. I’m really one of the longest-tenured guys on the team, so I have a good say on what goes on around here and people listen to what I say. So I definitely wanna be a good resource for the young guys and just help out as much as I can. And obviously, I hope everything leads to wins, but we’ll see.”</p><p><b>CP: You’re entering the final year of your rookie contract and are eligible for an extension. Have you discussed an extension with the Nets? What do you think your future holds in Brooklyn?</b></p><p><b>Thomas:</b> “I haven’t really talked about it much. Like I said before, I’m just trying to get ready for the season. Whatever happens, happens. All that is gonna come. Im not really worried about that. If I get minutes and play, I feel like I’m one of the best players in the league, and I can really showcase myself. But as far as thinking about that right now, nah, I’m not really focused on that. I’m just trying to be the best player I can be and just keep getting better and get ready for my fourth year.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
19.6	4.5	3.6	0.4	1.0

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
19.6	4.5	3.6	0.4	1.0

Mikal Bridges news

Mikal
Bridges news