From five picks from the first round to $ 150 million.
The Knicks will extend the contract of Mikal Bridges, a source that has been confirmed on Thursday, with the sustainable wing agreement with four years and $ 150 million with a player option.
The deal landed about $ 6 million less than the maximum, which could help the Knicks to move forward while navigating the apron restrictions of the SME. By agreeing with a deal, Bridges is also a free agency next summer, when he could have signed for considerably more – almost $ 300 million in five years with a maximum rate.
The average annual salary of $ 37.5 million for the expansion that starts in the 2026-27-Feels campaign reasonably for Bridges, which struggled a large part of last season before introducing himself in the play-offs.
At the age of 28, Bridges is part of a Knicks’ Core Five who are all in their prime numbers and have signed at least the following three seasons. His dedication under the Max was trumpeted as a discount to keep the flexibility of the team ahead, although it is not entirely the same gesture as Jalen Brunson a year ago.
Brunson would certainly have drawn a larger Max deal by waiting for the free desk. Bridges has to prove more, and he was often the fourth scoring option last season.
Now he is locked up and he cannot become a free agent until 2029 at the earliest. His expansion prevents speculation about bridges that touch the trade market, at least in the short term, because the rules of the competition stipulate that it cannot be treated for six months after the deal has become official.
For the 2026-27 season, the starting line-up of the Knicks bridges, Brunson, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart-Meer will then earn $ 150 million combined.
This is the group that continues to potential title conflicts, with newcomer Mike Brown as head coach.
“We have a team that will be together for a while,” said TeeMenden James Dolan last season on the podcast of Brunson and Hart’s “roommates show”. “Leon [Rose] has done a good job to draw up the contracts. So this is not our only season, so we are going to play a bunch of seasons together. ”
Bridges was taken over from the Nets for five picks in the first round last year, a substantial price that seemed too much paid in the midst of early struggles and a rocky transition to a new role. Moving the number 1 offensive option in Brooklyn to No. 4 at MSG proved difficult and bridges appeared from a species on both ends of the floor.
In March he publicly grumbled over excessive playing time while appealing to Tom Thibodeau to facilitate the minutes of the starters. It became a hot-button issue referred to by National Media after Thibodeau was fired after their elimination of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers.
Yet Bridges had many highlights. He raised his competition -high consecutive games that were played streak to 556, a miracle in the era of load management. His sustainability made it easier for the knicks to commit in the long term. He led the NBA last season in total minutes as the only player with more than 3,000, and remotely rode, registered more than 231 miles on the field.
Bridges also had stellar regular season matches against the Spurs on Christmas and the trail blazers in March. But he really shone in the first two rounds of the play -offs, when the Knicks surpassed the pistons and the Celtics disrupted.
Bridges took two of those victories with coupling defensive stops, moments that strengthened his interest in the success of the team, despite his disappointing conference final against Indiana.
Nevertheless, the Knicks bridges rewarded by doubling the large investment of Rose a year ago.
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