NEW YORK (AP) — Mikal Bridges agreed to a four-year, $150 million extension with the New York Knicks on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the details said.
The person confirmed the deal to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it had not been announced. It was first reported by ESPN.
The Knicks gave up five first-round picks to acquire Bridges last June and he rewarded them by taking less than he could have earned to lock in to a future with former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.
Bridges could have earned $156 million in this extension, or even more by waiting until his contract expired next summer. Instead, he took the deal that could allow the Knicks future flexibility to keep building a team that reached the Eastern Conference finals last season for the first time since 2000.
Bridges made a couple of huge defensive plays when the Knicks knocked off 2024 NBA champion Boston in the second round.
The Knicks sought those defensive abilities and his availability to play every game that is unmatched among current NBA players when they traded the huge package of picks to acquire Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets last summer.
Bridges played in every game — as he has in every season in the NBA — and averaged 17.6 points. The NBA’s reigning iron man also played in every game in college before appearing in all 556 since entering the NBA as a first-round pick in 2018.
He helped Phoenix reach the NBA Finals in 2021 and was runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year the following season, before being dealt to Brooklyn at the 2023 trade deadline as part of the package for Kevin Durant.
Bridges averaged 26.1 points in the final 27 games of that season and 19.6 in 2023-24, before becoming more of a supporting offensive piece with the Knicks behind Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
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