Former Villanova star Mikal Bridges agrees to four-year, $150 million extension with Knicks

NEW YORK — Mikal Bridges finally got his deal.

The New York Knicks and the star forward agreed to a four-year, $150 million deal on Thursday, league sources told The New York Daily News. ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to break the news.

The deal includes a player option for the 2029-30 NBA season and a trade kicker.

Which means New York avoids the nightmare scenario: Bridges holding them over a barrel in free agency discussions next summer, when he would have been eligible for a five-year deal worth close to $300 million. And the Knicks, who traded away five first-round picks to acquire Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets last offseason, would have had little choice but to pay him his number — or watch him walk to a rival organization next summer, much like OG Anunoby threatened last summer after the Knicks traded away R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to land him.

Anunoby ultimately commanded a franchise-record five-year, $212.5 million deal.

» READ MORE: How Mikal Bridges morphed from ’Nova redshirt to ’Nova Knick

Instead, the Knicks got Bridges at a modest discount, the second consecutive summer New York has convinced a key player to take a pay cut. Jalen Brunson left more than $100M on the table when he signed a four-year, $156.5M contract extension with the Knicks last summer, and now Bridges leaves $6 million on the table to help the Knicks continue to build a sustainable roster with respect to the second apron.

With Bridges’ new cap figure — projected at $33.5 million in Year 1 of his deal — the Knicks are now checking in roughly $15.6 million beneath the $222.37 million second apron threshold expected for the 2026-27 NBA season. They now have six core players under contract for the next two seasons (Brunson, Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anunoby, Josh Hart, Miles McBride) and five core players locked in for the next three seasons.

The Bridges extension handles one of two key pieces of business remaining for the Knicks this offseason. They must also make a decision on Mitchell Robinson, who is on an expiring deal and is eligible for a four-year, $81 million extension this summer. Signing Robinson to his max extension would push the Knicks well over the second apron for the 2026-27 NBA season with the other core rotation players remaining under contract.

The Knicks can also sign Towns to a two-year extension worth roughly $150 million, but the All-Star center is already under contract through 2027.

Bridges, who never missed a game in his collegiate career at Villanova, has appeared in all 556 of his career NBA games, ranking 14th in NBA history in consecutive games played. If he plays all 82 games next season, he will move into eighth place all-time with a 638 game streak.

» READ MORE: Villanova’s Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart explain ‘Nova Knicks origin story on Late Night with Seth Myers

The talented two-way wing had a rocky season under Tom Thibodeau in Year 1 in New York but still managed 17.6 points on 50% shooting from the field and 35% shooting from 3-point range in orange and blue while Thibodeau regularly deployed him as the team’s point of attack defender.

The Knicks believe retaining Bridges is critical to their ability to compete for a championship in an Eastern Conference blown wide-open by injuries to Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers) and Damian Lillard, who the Milwaukee Bucks ultimately waived from the roster to create space to sign Myles Turner in free agency. Bridges fits New York’s timeline and playing style, and he complements Brunson and Towns as an off-ball scorer and on-ball defender.

The Knicks remain solely focused on winning a championship and expanding their championship window beyond this season, and in locking in Bridges through at least 2029, the Knicks are giving themselves their best possible shot to end a championship drought that has stretched longer than 50 years.