{"id":97166,"date":"2024-09-23T13:34:10","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T17:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=97166"},"modified":"2024-09-23T13:34:10","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T17:34:10","slug":"knicks-newcomer-mikal-bridges-details-jalen-brunson-julius-randle-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/23\/knicks-newcomer-mikal-bridges-details-jalen-brunson-julius-randle-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks Newcomer Details Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle Fit"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Knicks will enter 2024-25 with more pomp and circumstance than they\u2019ve had since the days Carmelo Anthony<\/a> was their top player.<\/p>\n

Already, a growing chorus of fans is asking if Knicks captain Jalen Brunson<\/a> has made a greater impact on the franchise<\/a> than Anthony. Brunson\u2019s become so beloved in the Big Apple that the franchise even brought over his former Villanova teammates. With Mikal Bridges<\/a>, Josh Hart<\/a>, and Donte DiVincenzo<\/a> in the fold, they\u2019ve even been dubbed the \u2018Nova Knicks.\u2019<\/p>\n

In the process, they may have made Julius Randle<\/a> the odd man out. The problem is exacerbated by the reality that the team improved significantly after trading for OG Anunoby<\/a> last season. The only solution would be to bring DiVincenzo or Hart off the bench. Yet, both players played an essential role New York.<\/p>\n

This has led to questions about\u2019s Randle future with the Knicks. Would he sign a contract extension<\/a>? Will he be traded? Is asking him to play center<\/a> going to work?<\/p>\n

Knicks Newcomer Mikal Bridges Details Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle Fit<\/h2>\n

For all anyone knows, Randle will be just fine in the Knicks\u2019 reworked rotation.<\/p>\n

Bridges, who recently spoke with Responsible Gaming\u2019s Spencer Davies, says that Randle and Brunson \u201ccomplement each other<\/a>\u2026\u201d For him, playing off of Brunson will be easy because of their longtime relationship. Establishing chemistry with Randle will be a process, but not one he sees as a daunting task.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they complement each other, before I even got here, so well,\u201d Bridges says. \u201c\u2026I know how to play with Jalen when he has the ball; it’s just from throughout the years and the chemistry we had. And I think trying to build that with Julius in the preseason and training camp. They were good last year. I think I’ll just come in and I could fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridges even went so far as to detail the ways he could benefit the team\u2019s All-Star duo. From his comments, he plans to be more of a complementary piece. For a player who was tasked with being the No. 1 option in Brooklyn, with mixed results, this is somewhat unexpected.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026I think it’s gonna be easier for him and JB [with] me out there spacing the floor and being able to do a lot of things \u2014 cutting, dribble-handoffs, coming off ball-screens, anything to help those guys out and everybody else. I think it starts with them two. Building talent around them is gonna make their jobs easier and make us tough to guard.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With that being said, Bridges struggled to maintain his defensive efficacy while taking on such a heavy offensive burden. His efficiency also suffered, a major talking point for the Nets for several months. From that perspective, his desire to be a star in his role is more understandable.<\/p>\n

As he heads into next season, he admits that he wants to get back to his normal self.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being more efficient all around the board,\u201d Bridges says. \u201cI think that’s something I’ve always been my whole life, so it’s kinda been weird the past year-and-a-half not being as efficient as I want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to do everything offensively, defensively, but also maintaining that while being efficient… It’s not easy, but it’s what I’m aiming for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Limited Small-Ball?<\/h3>\n

As for whether he\u2019ll make those strides while playing heavy minutes, or even starting, at power forward? The Pennsylvania native leaves the door open for that possibility. However, while switchable defenses and small-ball have become synonymous, the 6-foot-6 and 209 pound Bridges doesn\u2019t sound too keen on playing that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re some strong dudes,\u201d Bridges says of power forwards. \u201cI’m strong in my own way, but they’re some strong dudes. We\u2019ll see. I feel like we’ll have a lot of situations where we just switch everything or switch 1-4. It wouldn’t look too bad unless we’re playing a big team like Cleveland…\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridges doesn\u2019t make the rules or craft the gameplan. In the end, it may not really matter what he believes the Knicks should do. Nonetheless, it\u2019s an interesting storyline to follow, especially as it relates to Randle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Knicks will enter 2024-25 with more pomp and circumstance than they\u2019ve had since the days Carmelo Anthony was their top player. Already, a growing chorus of fans is asking if Knicks captain Jalen Brunson has made a greater impact on the franchise than Anthony. Brunson\u2019s become so beloved in the Big Apple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":97177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1608,62,3],"tags":[1417,510,1484],"class_list":["post-97166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knicks","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-julius-randle","tag-mikal-bridges"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}