New York Knicks Waiting to Extend Mikal Bridges' Contract Until One Hypothetical is 'Settled'

New York Knicks Waiting to Extend Mikal Bridges' Contract Until One Hypothetical is 'Settled' originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The New York Knicks have had a busy offseason thus far as they try to upgrade their roster to compete at the top of the Eastern Conference again next season.

Of course, the Knicks hired Mike Brown as their new head coach after firing Tom Thibodeau and they also signed Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele in free agency to upgrade their bench.

With these additions, the Knicks are in prime position to compete for the top seed in the weakened East next season, especially with their core of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby leading the way.

Despite this, the Knicks have elected to make a surprise decision this offseason as they have yet to sign Bridges to a contract extension despite him being eligible for one.

This is a shocking move after they gave up a ton of assets to land him from the Brooklyn Nets last summer but Knicks insider Ian Begley recently revealed why New York has yet to sign Bridges to an extension.

“Until the Giannis (Antetokounmpo) stuff is fully settled - and I don't think it's fully settled yet - as teams continue to keep an eye on that and plan with that somewhere in the back of their mind...that's why you haven't seen Bridges extended yet. When he does extend, I think that would tell you that Giannis is put to bed, off the table. That's one factor at play here in terms of the timing,” Begley said.

"Until the Giannis stuff is fully settled - and I don't think it's fully settled yet - as teams continue to keep an eye on that and plan with that somewhere in the back of their mind...that's why you haven't seen [Mikal] Bridges extended yet.

When he does extend, I think that… pic.twitter.com/mmrDhVfPwi

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) July 16, 2025

Of course, the Knicks have been one of the main teams linked to Giannis this offseason with reports of him possibly wanting out of his situation with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Despite this, Giannis has yet to demand a trade, though some around the league believe that he could end up doing so and if he does, expect the Knicks to be one of the teams that show a ton of interest in him.

Due to this, the Knicks have yet to extend Bridges, which likely means that he would be part of a potential trade for Giannis, though it is still unclear whether the Bucks star will ask out this summer.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.