Mikal Bridges
Bridges is the Knicks' starting wing, but his season-opening shooting has been poor and his late-game minutes were a live question last spring.
Role
Fox Sports' player page (Rotowire notes, read via search on Oct 26) calls him locked into a starting role. In the opener, a 107-103 loss to Boston, he took only eight shots despite logging the second-most minutes on the team. An ESPN fantasy blurb, undated in the snippet, has him 2-for-16 from the field and 0-for-7 from three through two games, with Miles McBride scoring 20 off the bench. The competition for his minutes is McBride, plus Jordan Clarkson, Bruce Brown and Tyler Nickel when the first unit rests. In the preseason he played 22 minutes on Oct 12, then sat the next game for rest. I found no reported usage rate or minutes target for the regular season. Whether he sits back-to-backs has not been reported.
Mike Brown kept him in the starting five through the playoff scare against Atlanta, and Hoops Rumors (May 18) said he rewarded that faith late in the first round and through the Philadelphia sweep. Brown also credited his summer work with a new system. Fox/Rotowire says his starting role should give him chances to bounce back.
In the Atlanta series Brown benched him for most of the second half of two games, and a CBS piece argued McBride outplayed him. The Strickland's lineup data showed the Knicks far better with the Brunson and McBride pairing and Bridges off the floor. The 2026-27 start has been cold: eight shots in the opener, and ESPN's blurb shows McBride getting the hot-hand minutes.
Where analysts split
Whether Bridges keeps both the starting spot and his closing minutes, or whether McBride takes late-game time or the starting job if the shooting slump continues.
Research confidence: thin. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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