When you think about New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges, investing and real estate probably aren't the first things that come to mind.

Bridges isn't really known for showing off what he's spending his money on, either. But when you start looking at some of the strategic investment moves he's made over the years, there's a lot more there than you might expect.

Bridges Started An Investment Portfolio at 21 Years Old

And this started before his first NBA paycheck ever hit the bank.

Before the Philadelphia 76ers selected him in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft and immediately traded him to the Phoenix Suns, Bridges signed an endorsement deal with Wealthsimple.

Instead of just taking a check and calling it a day, part of the deal included a $50,000 investment portfolio. That's a pretty interesting decision for a 21-year-old who was about to start making NBA money.

We've seen plenty of athletes use the money they make during their careers to start building something away from the game.

LeBron James has put together a real estate portfolio worth an estimated $70 million, while others have jumped into everything from restaurants and clothing brands to tech companies. Bridges hasn't been nearly as loud about it, but he's made some big moves of his own.

Bridges Has Put Millions Into Real Estate

Once the NBA money started coming in, Bridges started making some pretty serious moves in real estate, too.

While playing for the Suns, Bridges bought a home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, for a little more than $6 million in 2021. Calling it a house might be selling it a little short. The place was around 7,000 square feet with five bedrooms, a guest casita, pool house and four-car garage.

From Phoenix to New York Real Estate

Then came the Kevin Durant trade.

Bridges was sent to Brooklyn in 2023 as part of the massive deal that brought Durant to Phoenix, and suddenly there wasn't much reason to hang onto a multimillion-dollar home in Arizona. He put the property on the market for $7 million and eventually sold it for $6.68 million in cash. That's about $600,000 more than the $6.075 million he originally paid for the place.

New York brought another big purchase, and this one worked out pretty well considering what happened next.

In 2024, Bridges dropped $5.99 million on a Tribeca duplex while he was still playing for the Nets. The four-bedroom property is more than 5,200 square feet and includes a home gym, office and more than 600 square feet of private outdoor space.

Mikal Bridges has "plunked down" $5.99 million for a loft in Tribeca, per the New York Post. He had been renting elsewhere in Manhattan. https://t.co/Shc4IJtnGX

— NetsDaily (@NetsDaily) May 7, 2024

A few months later, Brooklyn traded Bridges to the Knicks, so after getting shipped across the country the year before, at least this trade didn't require another big move.

Bridges May Have Another Property on the Jersey Shore

There could be another property to add to the list.

A 2026 public notice from the Avalon Planning/Zoning Board identifies Bridges as the applicant for a property at 481 7th Street. The filing is actually over something pretty simple: Bridges is seeking approval to keep and use gym equipment inside the property's garage.

That would give Bridges real estate ties to Arizona, New York and the Jersey Shore. He's done all of that before turning 31, and now he's playing on a four-year, $150 million extension with the Knicks.

We're not ready to start calling Bridges a real estate mogul. There's nothing out there showing he's trying to build some massive property empire, and buying expensive homes doesn't automatically make someone a real estate investor.

But when you add those real estate moves to an investment portfolio he received before his NBA career even started, you can definitely see a pattern.

Bridges has made a lot of money playing basketball, and there's a whole lot more coming his way. It looks like he's been pretty smart about what he does with it, too.