NEWSLETTER
It’s a late-night blockbuster in the NBA!
The New York Knicks made a monster splash to get them a star forward. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Mikal Bridges is headed across the Brooklyn bridge from the Nets to the Knicks in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic, four FOUR unprotected first-round picks, a protected first-round pick from the Bucks, an unprotected pick, and a second-round pick.
What a haul.
Bridges averaged 19.6 points per game last season on 43 percent shooting from the field and a 37 percent mark from three. As many know, he too was a member of Villanova’s national championship in 2016 alongside his now-new teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo.
The Villanova Boys are back!
The trade news also isn’t done there. The Nets were immediately active with the Houston Rockets, using one of their prized Phoenix Suns picks to get back some of their own draft capital. It’s all very complicated, so I’ll just leave Woj’s description below and we can always get into it later.
Mikal Bridges Traded To The Knicks
Mikal Bridges feels like a perfect fit for Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks. He’s the typical three-and-d wing that every team would love to have, especially Thibs. Bridges is entering the second-to-last season of a four-year, $90 million deal but is up for an extension. One would think after parting ways with a massive haul that the Knicks plan to get that done in the near future.
The Knicks were in negotiations to bring back wing OG Anunoby, who they acquired from Toronto midseason last year. However, he seems destined to become an unrestricted free agent when free agency opens on June 30th. It’s unknown their plans for Anunoby, but one would think this move makes it less likely he’s back.
For what it’s worth, Woj notes that they still hope to keep Anunoby in the mix. We’ll see if they can succeed.
The Knicks were also being linked to the Cavs star guard Donovan Mitchell. If the Cavs can’t agree to a long-term deal with Mitchell, the 27-year-old New York native had often been rumored to have an interest in playing at home. Mitchell has yet to agree to a deal, but the Knicks opting to spend their future assets on Bridges only gives us more reason to believe Mitchell is in store for a reunion with the Cavs.
New York fell in seven games the the Pacers in the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. They looked impressive at times, but the team couldn’t avoid the injury bug and just ran out of gas.
