Mikal Bridges figured to join the Knicks six years ago, and now the Knicks are looking to win a championship with an expensive draft redo.
As he made clear during his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Bridges expected to join the Knicks as the ninth pick in 2018.
Instead, they made one of the worst draft mistakes in franchise history.
“When I went in for the draft, I was like, ‘I’m going to play at MSG.’ I was like, ‘This is the time. I’m going to love it there,'” Bridges said, later adding, “I was really going to go.”
The Knicks selected Kevin Knox from the University of Kentucky after being impressed with his pre-draft workouts.
Bridges was drafted shortly after, first by the Sixers and then, disappointingly, by the Suns, and three of the four picks after that were MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Miles Bridges of questionable character but undeniable talent, and NBA champion Michael Porter Jr.
Knox is out of the NBA.
Mistakes by Steve Mills and Scott Perry are now costly.
The price for acquiring Bridges was five first-round draft picks and a trade to the rival Nets, giving the Knicks a solid chance to win right now.
Bridges was ecstatic on Tuesday about finally getting the chance to call MSG home, but denied reports that he had asked the Nets for a trade or engineered a move to the Knicks.
“That’s not like me,” he said. “That’s not like me.”
According to Sean Marks, Bridges was informed in advance by the Nets’ general manager that the trade was on the “two-yard line.”
Bridges learned the deal was done while spending time at the Texas lakeside home of Memphis guard Desmond Bane, “one of my closest friends.”
“I think it was dark outside and it was crazy. It was wild,” Bridges said.[Bane’s] They were yelling from afar, ‘Hey! Did you see that?’ and I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ It was cool.”
The trade is reminiscent of the Knicks’ disappointing 2018 draft, but it’s also most famously symbolic of the Villanova University reunion following Josh Hart’s public recruitment.
Bridges struggled last season with the Nets, who were considered lottery contenders, while his former teammates Hart, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo won 50 games and were showered with praise in New York City.
Bridges’ FOMO is understandable, and he admitted Saturday it was tough rooting for his team’s success while enduring the taunts from Hart.
“I wasn’t really rooting for them that much,” Bridges said. “They don’t need to have the advantage over me all the time.”
Now they can celebrate together and the Knicks have a chance to add a happy ending to their awful 2018 draft.
“It doesn’t feel real. It feels amazing to be a part of the Knicks,” said Bridges, a Philadelphia native. “I knew I’d be here in 2018 and I love everything about this team.” [Tom Thibodeau]”The crowd. MSG. All of those things. That’s history. … When I think about basketball when I was younger, old-school basketball, it was always the Knicks. That’s what comes to mind. MSG. New York songs. Knicks songs. All of those things.”
