What's wrong with Mikal Bridges? The new Knicks star stumbles in his season debut, then recovers with a jump shot

The New York Knicks spent a huge amount of draft capital on Mikal Bridges this offseason, hoping he would be the 3-and-D signing that would make them a championship contender. One game later, it looks like “3” is still a work in progress.

Bridges had a memorable debut Tuesday against the Boston Celtics, as did the rest of the Knicks in a 132-109 loss to the defending champions. After one of the most eventful offseasons in recent NBA history, New York was overwhelmed at the 3-point line to historic proportions.

After one half, Bridges' 3-point shot seemed to be the bigger disaster. He was 0-for-5 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range, and none of those shots seemed close. The panic sirens were loud, but he managed to provide some bright spots, shooting 7 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 from deep, so the game was all but decided in the second half.

Bridges finished the night going 7 of 13 from the field (2 of 7 from deep) for 16 points, plus two assists, one turnover and no rebounds. When he was on the floor, the Knicks were 33 points shy of him.

Things could have been a lot worse, but Bridges got better. The only question is whether that means his jump shot is fixed, or whether the Knicks need to worry a lot more about the man they acquired for a superstar price.

Mikal Bridges struggled with his jump shot before the Knicks' opener

Bridges struggled early in his Knicks debut, which came as no surprise to people who followed his training camp and preseason. His jump shot went slightly viral on the first day of Knicks camp when a video was circulated showing a tortured shot in which he pulled the ball up and behind his head before releasing it.

The thing is, Bridges has always had an unconventional jump shot. A look at his highlight reel from last year shows a form with a hitch and a high release point. It's this issue that led Bridges to attempt to overhaul his jump shot, via the New York Post:

Unfortunately, Bridges may have just initiated something that worked. Since developing this trick, Bridges has quietly become one of the better shooters in the NBA. He shot 38.2% from distance during that span and has never been worse than 36% in a season. He made as many 3-pointers as Damian Lillard last season, and did so on fewer attempts.

The first results after optimization were…unfortunate. Bridges went 2-for-19 from 3-point range in four preseason games, capped by an 0-for-10 performance against the Wizards.

And then a goose egg in the first half. It would be a complete exaggeration to call him a bust now, but you can't blame Knicks fans for still feeling uneasy about his place on a team that did anything but make up for himself in the season opener.