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New York officially added another piece to the Nova Knicks infinity stone this week as they completed a blockbuster deal to acquire small forward Mikal Bridges from the crosstown rival Nets.
Bridges had long been rumored as a potential Knicks target over the past few months with three of his good friends and former college teammates on the other side of town, and now the move has become a reality.
“It was pretty wild,” Bridges said during Tuesday’s introductory news conference. “It’s dope to be a Knick. I’m excited to play at MSG, I’m excited to see my guy Spike [Lee] sitting courtside, looking at the roster I’m just excited to be part of this team.”
Bridges spent one and a half seasons in Brooklyn after being acquired as one of the headline pieces in the Kevin Durant deal with the Phoenix Suns ahead of the trade deadline two years ago.
The former first-round pick capped off that campaign on a spectacular note, averaging 26.1 points and shooting 47 percent from the field down the stretch to finish fourth in Most Improved Player voting, but he took a bit of a step back this past season.
While Bridges is disappointed with how he ended his tenure on the other side of town, he says he took in a lot from last season’s struggles and he’s determined to use that as fuel as he starts his new journey.
“Last year was a big learning thing,” he said. “Obviously I didn’t play how I wanted to play, but seeing a lot of things and going through that helps me, you kind of learn and build from the mistakes and everything else.
“When stuff doesn’t go as well as you want it, you can’t just look at it and be upset and put your head down. You have to look at it and accept what it was and kind of grow from it. That’s the biggest thing and that’s what I’m going to do.”
With All-NBA talents Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle expected to carry the load offensively again this season for New York, Bridges will likely be sliding back into more of a complementary role with his new club.
While it’ll be a bit of a change of pace from his style of play during his days in Brooklyn, the 27-year-old expects to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mikal-bridges-ready-last-seasons-165450666.html
Author : SNY
Publish date : 2024-07-09 16:54:50
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