This version of Mikal Bridges looks nothing like the one Brooklyn traded away, but his revamped role could be the key to New York ascending in the East.

A lot of eyebrows were raised when the Knicks gave up a chest of first-round picks to the Nets to acquire Mikal Bridges last summer.

For a fleeting moment considered the face of the Nets, Mikal Bridges is hoping for “good energy” as he returns to the Barclays Center on Tuesday for the first time since being traded across the Manhattan Bridge.