Josh Hart was traded for one first-round pick. Mikal Bridges, the spotlighted player Friday for the interborough rivalry game, cost the Knicks five.

Karl-Anthony Towns' poor defense has been heavily scrutinized, but Mikal Bridges has been just as big of a problem on that end of the floor.

Mikal Bridges chose to focus on the positives when asked about his first matchup versus his former team, the Brooklyn Nets.

Did the New York Knicks overpay when they traded for SF Mikal Bridges? He is averaging (15.3) points per game in nine starts.

The Knicks landed Mikal Bridges in a blockbuster deal last summer that sent shockwaves across the NBA. Whether or not he actually forced his way out of Brooklyn, as some reported, is anyone’s guess. The move was designed to further bolster New York’s championship odds.

Ashley Howard still remembers when Mikal Bridges used to hide in the bathroom. It’s how Bridges disrupted game days during his redshirt season at Villanova in 2014-15, when he and the assistant coach had the court to themselves about an hour before the rest of the team arrived.

I know we are all feeling uneasy about the squad right now. The two Knicks’ group chats I’m in on Twitter are filled with some depressing messages. My timeline is filled with a lot of anguish, resentment,