Knicks' Mikal Bridges reveals expectations for first trip to Brooklyn since trade
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Seven months after the blockbuster trade that sent him from the Brooklyn Nets to the New York Knicks, Mikal Bridges will return to Barclays Center on Tuesday. The Nets’ former top player expects a positive experience when he enters his former arena.
"It'll be just cool to be back," Bridges told SNY. "To see my teammates and the coaching staff that was there for a couple of months before I got traded. See the staff and everybody. [I’m expecting] good energy."
Mikal Bridges says it will be "cool to be back" in Brooklyn tomorrow night: pic.twitter.com/VJ6EWbOuIn
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 20, 2025
The Nets traded Bridges to the Knicks in June for five first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and a second-round pick. The deal — the first between the two teams since 1983 — jettisoned Brooklyn into irrelevance while elevating New York to contender status.
Mikal Bridges returns to Barclays Center seven months after blockbuster trade
Bridges turned heads around the league after joining the Nets as the centerpiece of their return for Kevin Durant at the 2023 trade deadline. He averaged 26.1 points per game on 48/38/89 shooting splits over 27 appearances to close the season. The stretch raised hopes that he could be Brooklyn’s lead scorer as the team attempted to rebuild a contender.
However, he came crashing back to earth last season, and Brooklyn missed the play-in. Although sending their top player to a crosstown rival was a tough pill to swallow, the Knicks’ offer was too good to pass up. Reports also surfaced that Bridges requested a trade to New York and was willing to leverage his way there, although Bridges and Brooklyn’s front office have denied them.
Regardless, the trade has been viewed as a resounding win for the Nets, who now lead the NBA with 15 first-round picks over the next seven years. Bridges former Villanova and now Knicks teammate Josh Hart said there shouldn’t be any hard feelings from Brooklyn fans.
"I think they should show him love," Hart told the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy. "Obviously he was only there for a year-and-half, but he played as hard as he could there. Obviously last year I harassed him on social media. He caught some flak for that. But he was always committed to that franchise and that fan base. Now he's here and they got a helluva haul for him. So I think it was a win-win for both franchises and they should show him love when he gets there."
The Knicks won both matchups against the Nets earlier this season at Madison Square Garden. Bridges averaged 21.5 points on 18-of-35 (51.4 percent shooting from the field and 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from three during the pair of wins. He hit Brooklyn’s bench with his patented three-point celebration several times, to the displeasure of his former longtime teammate, Cam Johnson.
Cam Johnson on getting hit with Mikal Bridges' three-point celebration:
"It's annoying… very annoying." https://t.co/hFbRP7Cvqopic.twitter.com/vTwnNa0zEV
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) November 18, 2024
Bridges has returned to form of late after a rough start. He’s averaged 18.1 points and 3.2 assists on 50/35/72 shooting splits while playing a career-high 38.7 minutes per game. However, New York hasn’t had the start it hoped for after pushing nearly all its chips in to acquire Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns this summer.
The Knicks have lost six of their last 10 games and sit third in the Eastern Conference at 28-16. Meanwhile, the Nets have lost eight of their last nine as they aim to maximize their draft lottery odds during the second half of this season.
"It's going to be a good game," Bridges said ahead of Tuesday’s matchup. "Excited. We beat them twice. Just trying to get another win."
The post Knicks’ Mikal Bridges reveals expectations for first trip to Brooklyn since trade appeared first on ClutchPoints.
