A New York Knicks website guaranteed to get them jumping

It's been a busy offseason for your New York Knicks. Julius Randle, Isaiah Hartenstein and Donte DiVincenzo all wear different uniforms. Can you imagine telling a Knick fan in March 2023 that the three of them, plus Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett and Quentin Grimes, are all on different franchises? Dead men tell no stories.

But the Knicks are on a mission. Led by Leon Rose, the front office is determined to bring a championship home to New York. It seems clear that they feel little commitment outside of this primary goal. So while the once-beloved Knicks are gone, they have been replaced by Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks cashed in their chips.

The roles for Towns and Anunoby are clear. Towns will work in unison with Jalen Brunson to create – hopefully – one of the most devastating offensive attacks in the league. With three of Josh Hart, Deuce McBride, Bridges or Anunoby lurking on the perimeter, Brunson and Towns have maximum space to inflict damage on the opposing defense. As for Anunoby, Knicks fans should be aware of how important he is on both ends of the court. Last season, New York was over 22 points per 100 possessions better when Anunoby played than when he sat. He is their most important defensive player and a top shooter on both wings.

So where does this leave Bridges? The Knicks allocated a hefty package of draft capital to him, so you'd like to think there's a plan. But what exactly? How can the Knicks get the BEST version of him? For me it comes down to three areas.

Shoot

Yes, that's obvious. The year is 2024. Shooting matters. It's time we all accept this as a fact of modern NBA life.

But that's not it Only For Bridges, it's all about shooting, it's what it is Art of the shots he shoots. The best version of Bridges was the one we saw for four seasons in Phoenix, where he was assisted on at least 96.2% of his three-point shots. With Chris Paul on the team, that number rose to over 98% in consecutive seasons. On the other hand, in two seasons in Brooklyn, Bridges was assisted on 92.3% and 88.2% of his 3-point shots, respectively, which is just in the 32nd percentile in the entire NBA.

The Knicks didn't make Bridges rely on him to create on his own to this extent. The first step for Bridges to maximize his offensive impact on this team is to get back to shooting the majority of his three-point shots from the field.

Using his new abilities as a weapon

So we don't want him to create anything? Always?

Not quite.

While Brooklyn's acquisition of Bridges did not result in team success, it did result in further development of Bridges' overall skills. Due to the nature of his expanded role, he almost doubled his attempts from the middle range. Again, the big difference lies in the way Bridges shot these shots: his midrange and perimeter looks were self-created much more quickly. Of course his performance declined.

It's safe to assume that Bridges is better in these areas today than he was three years ago. Not all development is linear, but in this case there is a fairly strong correlation. Bridges can use his newfound skills in these areas by attacking the advantages created by Brunson or Town, and the bench unit that Bridges leads also appears ready to take the lead.

There is a world in which his shooting profile returns to a similar version of what we saw in Phoenix, a world in which the development of his skillset has sharpened the boundaries. This combination could lead to the deadliest version of Bridges yet.

defense

Since Bridges (hopefully) spends less energy on offense, he ideally has more to offer defensively. A common misconception is that his defense in Brooklyn faltered due to the expansion of his offensive role. That's not entirely true. Bridges remained an above-average defender in Brooklyn. But his overall defensive performance didn't come close to the heights he showed in Phoenix.

Bridges will have a lot to do in New York. I mentioned how important Anunoby will be to this defense, and that's true, but we saw last season that the Knicks are at their best against certain teams that prefer to let Anunoby roam rather than at the point of attack. Teams like the Cavaliers and 76ers, potential playoff opponents, have smaller lead guards in Darius Garland and Tyrese Maxey that the Knicks would prefer to keep Anunoby away from. Bridges are needed here. But that's not the end of it.

We saw in the preseason how valuable it is to have Bridges, Anunoby and Hart rotate against the wings. Bridges must be in harmony with these two. Off the ball, Bridges will have to try to match Anunoby's performance, especially when OG is on the main wing. Bridges has shown signs of being a solid rim protector at the wing. The Knicks will need him to emphasize that after replacing Hartenstein with Towns.

Bridges will not be the player he was in Brooklyn. And while there will be an attempt to reprise his role in Phoenix, he won't be that player either. The goal is to unite these two players and become the best version of Bridges the NBA has ever seen. If the Knicks can do that, their starting lineup will be a contender for the best team in the league — and Bridges will find himself in the All-Star conversation.