Mikal Bridges represents the present for the New York Knicks, who are competing in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference and aspire to make a lengthy playoff run.

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.

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.