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Mikal Bridges’ busted jump shot is the NBA’s biggest mystery right now
The New York Knicks have championship expectations entering the 2024-2025 season after an incredibly bold summer that saw the team chase a pair of co-stars for MVP candidate Jalen Brunson. The Knicks’ recent trade for Karl-Anthony Towns has been dissected ad nauseam, but it was a deal they made earlier in the summer that was even more risky.
The Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges from their crosstown rival Brooklyn Nets to open the offseason by trading four of their own unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029, and 2031), the Bucks’ 2025 first-rounder, and an unprotected pick swap in 2028. That’s the type of return you would expect if the Bucks ever traded Giannis Antetokounmpo. To give all that up for a player who has never been named an NBA All-Star like Bridges is just absolutely wild.
While it was a lot to give up for one player, Bridges has been really, really good. He fits perfectly into the ‘3-and-D’ wing mold as a typically low usage swingman who can defend at a high level (he was First-Team All-Defense in 2022) and make three-pointers on volume. Over the last two seasons between stints with the Suns and Nets, Bridges made 37.6 percent of his threes on 6.3 attempts per game. Add in the pinch of shot creation he showed in Brooklyn, and there’s a case to be made he’s one of the NBA’s best role players.
As Bridges hit training camp for the Knicks, something unexpected happened: videos kept popping up of his jump shooting form looking really, really weird. Notably, Bridges had a big hitch in his jump shot that wasn’t there last season. The problem has only gotten worse in the preseason.
In four preseason games with the Knicks, Bridges has shot 2-of-19 from three-point range. After three rough shooting games in a row, he shot 0-for-10 against the league-worst Washington Wizards in his preseason finale. The footage is ugly, and it has gone viral.
It would be unwise to draw big conclusions off such a small sample size. Stephen Curry also struggled shooting threes in the preseason this year, going 7-for-25 (28 percent) from downtown. Is his shot broken, too? Of course not.
At the same time: Bridges’ shot looks weird, man. Bridges has spoken about trying to eliminate the hitch in his jumper in the past, but it’s never looked like this. Here’s his recent explanation of what’s going on with his shooting mechanics:
An ugly shot is just fine if it’s consistently falling, but Bridges’ results with this shot are so bad that it’s beginning to get a little scary for New York fans.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards even hounded Bridges about busting his jumper during a preseason game:
It looks like Bridges is trying to raise the release point of his jumper, and it’s giving him a funky two-motion shooting release. It’s possible that this just looks weirder than it really is because Bridges’ arms are so long — he has a 7’1 wingspan at 6’7 — but so far the results are matching the eye test that this doesn’t look right.
Here’s what Bridges’ jumper used to look like at the end of the 2022 season:
There did appear to be a little bit more of a two-part release in Bridges’ jumper last year with the Nets, but not quite as exaggerated as it is now. He shot the ball really well last year from deep (37.2 on 7.2 attempts per game from three), so maybe this is a big blowup about nothing.
Even if Bridges shoots the ball at his career norms, the Knicks still gave up a ton to get him. If his shot really is broken, this trade could be one New York regrets for the long time.
