The Nets had opportunities to trade Mikal Bridges, but declined and Bridges is returning the favor: he wants to be back.
Depending on who you talk to, what you read, the Brooklyn Nets could have traded Mikal Bridges at the deadline for four or five first round picks, “several” of the assets the Nets still owe the Houston Rockets and/or Jalen Green. They declined and there is NO indication Sean Marks & Co. will move Bridges at the Draft or at any time. He remains a corner piece, if not the corner piece of the team’s rebuild, now in its second big year.
In talking with beat writers on Tuesday, Bridges made it clear that while he may not be happy with the Nets season, he expects to be back at HSS Training Center come fall, ready to go.
“Yeah, 100 percent. I don’t think I look at anywhere else,” Bridges said. “I don’t think about my contract at all. Just try and come back, and my biggest thing this summer is to be better than I was this year. Take a lot from what I learned.
“Obviously it was not what I wanted and what we wanted as a team, but you can’t really sulk about it. Didn’t play your best. That’s cool. Might get some hate for it, but just get in the gym, get better and learn from it. My intention is definitely to stay here. I got nowhere else to be.”
That might now sound like a full-throated endorsement but with the Nets dealing with a lot of other issues, it’s a big positive, particularly with all his Villanova teammates lobbying him to seek a trade across the East River. Indeed, Bleacher Report’s Andrew Bailey wrote this week that maybe he should.
Adding his outside shooting to Donte DiVincenzo’s would give Brunson plenty of spacing for drives. And his multi positional defense would make him an instant favorite of Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau.
That might excite New York Knicks fans, but if Marks isn’t trading Bridges to Houston for a boatload of picks, he certainly isn’t trading the 27-year-old to the Nets rivals in Manhattan.
Bridges has had an up-and-down year for certain. After averaging 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists ahead of the break, he’s dropped since February. down to 16.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting just 40.2% from the field and 37.6% from deep, as C.J. Holmes reports. For the year, he’s at 20.0/4.3/3.7, which are either his best regular season numbers or close. Of course, he remains the NBA’s ironman, having now played in 510 straight games, regular season and playoffs. He is currently No. 2 in both minutes and mileage.
He dismissed the idea that he’s in a slump noting the emergence of Cam Thomas (who is now the team’s leading scorer at 22.2) and the arrival of Dennis Schroder played a role.
“I’m not sure on that,” Bridges said when asked about a slump. “I think Cam [Thomas] has been aggressive and then Dennis [Schroder] being more aggressive, it’s kinda just that work point, being that middleman. But [I’m] just trying to find it, you know, throughout. When guys have it, it’s just trying to find it whenever.”
One thing Bridges won’t be doing is putting his finger on the scales when the selection of a new head coach is discussed. He has said he doesn’t want to play assistant GM … and the organization seems to have moved away from letting the inmates run the asylum. Of course, if Marks and Joe Tsai ask…
“[Whatever] they want, man. I just try to play basketball,” said Bridges. “They know I want to win, and [they will] figure out the best guy to help us win.”
The Nets short term remains limited by their aversion to going over the luxury tax threshold next season because if they did go over, they’d be in repeater tax hell through 2027-28 and unable to access either the MLE or BAE (bi-annual exception), severely limiting their flexibility. They also don’t have a pick in the 2024 NBA which suits them just fine considering the annual selection’s reputation as a bad draft.
Bridges current contract, universally viewed as one of the best in the NBA, has another two years to run. He’ll make $23.3 million next season and $24.9 million in 2024-25. Moreover, he is one of the most popular players in the NBA, ideal for recruiting the next superstar. Will it all work? The Nets think it will and are putting a lot of faith in Bridges both as a player, leader and fan favorite. In return, he had positive things to say about the fan base. The Nets will finish the season having sold out 99.0% of Barclays Center despite everything.
“It’s tough, this season we’re having. A lot of losing [even though there were] a lot of expectations this year,” Bridges said. “But for them to even come here when we’re not playing at our best shows [they are] true fans.
“There might be some who aren’t true fans, [those] who don’t show when we’re losing, but I appreciate everybody who still comes [while] we’re trying to figure this thing out and everything.”
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