Cute, but risky.
It appears that the Brooklyn Nets are blowing everything up, trading away their No. 1 player in small forward Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks, according to a report Tuesday night from ESPN. With that being said, however, the Nets did land a load of first-round draft picks — picks that they lost in the James Harden trade with the Houston Rockets.
Other offers for Bridges were being thrown at Brooklyn, however, he had a strong desire to play with the Knicks to reunite with his three ex-Villanova teammates (who he won two national titles with) and also having the ability to play for an NBA championship contender. On top of that, New York’s confidence in this being a long-term situation also helped a deal get done, which is why you saw the Knickerbockers unleash a crazy amount of draft picks to make it happen, per ESPN.
Tuesday afternoon and evening saw talks between Knicks president Leon Rose and Nets general manager Sean Marks quickly escalate, with New York overwhelming the market to the point where Brooklyn couldn’t turn them down. Altogether, the Knicks threw at them four unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031), a protected first-round pick for the 2025 draft courtesy of the Milwaukee Bucks, New York’s 2028 pick swap (which is unprotected) and a Nets second-round pick for 2025, per the four-letter network.
BREAKING: The Brooklyn Nets have agreed in principle on a trade to send F Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks, a protected first-round pick via Bucks, an unprotected pick swap and a second-rounder, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/TEGsIpoa3b
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2024
If Jalen Brunson elevates into true superstardom (and he’s pretty damn close), this move will work to perfection, but it can easily go in the other direction for that same reason … right now, the Knicks don’t have a true superstar. And no, I don’t wanna hear about Eastern Conference Semifinals appearances.
If Jalen makes it to the NBA Finals next year, or even the Eastern Conference Finals, we can revisit this discussion. Until then, I have the Bridges trade being a risky move until I see otherwise.
At the end of the day, Jalen Bruson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges … none of those are LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry … and in the NBA, superstars win championships. (RELATED: Pretty Much What You’d Expect: Cleveland Cavaliers Have Reportedly Decided On Kenny Atkinson As Their Next Head Coach)
Can Jalen Brunson deliver at that level going forward?
We’ll see.
Regardless though, you’ve gotta be loving this move as a Knicks and/or Villanova fan (imagine being both), it’s truly special on paper.
