Knicks Mikal Bridges blockbuster still too early to judge despite early struggles

Josh Hart was traded for one first-round pick.Mikal Bridges, the spotlighted player Friday for the interborough rivalry game, cost the Knicks five.And even though it hasn’t been an encouraging start for Bridges in Manhattan, his teammate brought a measured perspective to a debate about the blockbuster.“I just think he’s five times better than me,” Hart joked.

“But nah, the thing about these trades — especially trades like this — you can’t judge them now.You have five first-round picks, no one has any idea what those first-rounders are going to be, what they’re going to look like, who is available.

So I don’t think there’s any pressure.”Hart is absolutely correct about holding off any evaluation.But that won’t stop the early concerns about Bridges’ struggles in the opening few weeks of this campaign, a storyline that grew in significance Friday with Karl-Anthony Towns (contused knee) and Miles McBride (illness) both out.The Knicks needed something bigger and better from their starting backcourt of Bridges and Jalen Brunson.“I think he’s been doing a solid job.

I think [Bridges] can be better.I think we can all be better,” Hart said.

“I think we’ve had some frustration at times trying to figure things out.But we know it was going to take time.

None of us thought it was going to be an easy, seamless transition and be going round-for-round with Cleveland to be undefeated.Nah.

We knew it was going to take time.”When the trade was first revealed in June, the initial reaction was widely, though certainly not unanimously, “How could the Nets do this? How could they give up their best player to the rival? How could they help the Knicks win a championship?”Roughly five months later, the answer remains the same but with maybe a greater appreciation for Brooklyn’s logic — they got a lot of draft picks.There are so many picks the Knicks now only control one of their own first-rounders through 2030.And the highlight of the Ne...