BREAKING: Knicks Extend Mikal Bridges

Had Bridges gambled and waited until next summer, he would have been eligible to sign a five-year deal worth north of $275 million... The Knicks did the smart/safe thing and locked him up now.

With just one year remaining on his current contract, the Knicks had to make a decision on Mikal Bridges this summer.

Either the player and the team were going to commit to each other long-term, or New York would have to explore trade options expeditiously (he'd have drawn plenty of interest as a quality two-way player on a relatively inexpensive expiring deal). Going into next season with Bridges as a pending free agent would have probably been a monumental (nonsensical) gamble.

When considering trade possibilities, although Mikal failed to live up to expectations in some respects during his debut season in New York, it would have been extremely difficult to find an available asset that brought back a comparable skill set. Teams that have those types of talents tend to hold onto them. The number of players that check the same boxes as Bridges AND will be paid less than $25 million in 2025-26 narrows the potential options even further. Once it became clear that Giannis Antetokounmpo had not demanded to be dealt (let alone to New York, specifically), holding onto Bridges was NY's best option, in my opinion.

Thus, I assumed Leon Rose and the Knicks front office would do everything to get Bridges to sign on the dotted line this summer, especially considering Rose and company gave up five first-round picks to acquire his services. Due to that reality, Bridges entered negotiations with an incredible amount of leverage. It seemed as if New York had almost no choice but to offer him the most they could, which was $156.1 million over four years.

Yet, even a maximum extension offer wasn't a no-brainer for Bridges. He had the option of playing out the final year of his contract and hitting the open market as an unrestricted free agent in July of 2026. Waiting a year instead of locking in guaranteed money is always a gamble for any athlete, primarily because of the risk of injury. However, considering Bridges hasn't missed a game since high school, you could understand if he was less worried about such scenarios than most.

The reason Bridges' max payday this summer is $156 million is due to the CBA's rules involving extensions. The first year of any extension can be up to 140% of the player's previous-year salary, and annual raises are capped at 8% annually for, at most, four years.

However, such rules don't apply when a player is a free agent. Had Bridges been unrestricted next summer, he would have been eligible to sign with New York for five years starting at 30% of the salary cap, with 8% annual raises. Depending on where the cap lands in 2026, we are talking about a five-year deal worth north of $275 million.

The most another team could offer would be a four‑year deal with 5% annual raises, or approximately $225 million.