Sources Information Mikal Bridges in the middle of rare Knicks Nets trade Sources – ESPN
The Nets will trade Mikal Bridges along with a 2026 second round pick to the Knicks in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic as well as four unprotected first-rounders as well as a 2025 first-rounder that is protected through the Bucks as well as a 2028 protected swap of picks and a second-rounder in 2025, sources have told ESPN.
By Tim Bontemps
Jun 26, 2024 02:12 AM
On the eve of the NBA draft, the Knicks and Nets made their first trade with each other since 1983 and did so in dramatic fashion, as New York agreed in principle to acquire Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn for Bojan Bogdanovic , five first-round draft picks, a first-round pick swap and a second-round selection, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday.
Brooklyn will be granted protected New York picks in 2025 the 2025, 2027, 2027, 2029 and 2031. There will also be an unprotected swap of picks to New York in 2028. Brooklyn will also get a top-four 2025 first-round selection via the Milwaukee Bucks, along with the 2025 second-rounder.
The Knicks will purchase a 2026 second round pick from the Nets to complete the deal.
Bridges 27, 27, has never missed a single game during his NBA career. He averaged 19.6 points during the last year for Brooklyn. He is considered to be one of the top players of the league in 3-and-D.
This is the fifth agreement among the two New York franchises since the Nets were admitted to the NBA in the year 1976 -and the first one since the Nets sold Len Elmore to the Knicks for a pick in the second round of 1984 (used to select Tom Sluby) on June 22nd in 1983.
Nearly 41 years after the day, the teams made the ultimate blockbuster deal with enormous reverberations that impacted both franchises going forward.
As a member of the Knicks, Bridges reunites with his former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. They helped lead their Wildcats to the national championship. Brunson, Bridges and DiVincenzo were able to win another championship together two years after.
The team is now looking to break the drought of 52 years for championships in the coming spring. Knicks that have won a playoff game in two consecutive seasons for the first time in over 24 years after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 4-2 in the opening round of the spring season and then losing in the final to Indiana Pacers in seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Sources have told Wojnarowski they believe that New York remains focused on the possibility of re-signing forward OG Anunoby who they purchased mid-season from Toronto Raptors and who is expected to become a free agent in the summer. The Knicks are also hoping to sign centre Isaiah Hartenstein but they are limited on the amount they are able to pay him because they are having the early Bird rights. This means that, at the most the possibility of signing an unrestricted four-year $72.5 million contract to the organization.
Through the acquisition of Bridges and Anunoby in a series of agreements, New York is arming itself with as much length, flexibility and shooting from the perimeter as is possible to be able to take on the defending champions Boston Celtics for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Bridges had played in 474 consecutive games since he began his career this is the longest streak ever in the NBA over the last 40 seasons. He is among four players who scored 1,500 points 150 3-pointers and 75 steals during the past two seasons. He is joined by Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum..
Bridges is due $23.3 million as well as $24.9 million over the last two years on his contract. He’s eligible for an extension for two years on October. 1 and may extend the extension for an additional three years and $113 million within six months.
Brooklyn The team, in turn is clearly heading in the right direction, and not only in moving away from Bridges but also by releasing some of the first-round selection rights it got by Phoenix Suns. Phoenix Suns -as well as Bridges as part of the Kevin Durant blockbuster trade that took place in February 2022.
Today, Brooklyn has control of its 2025 and 2026 draftsboth are considered to be very competitive with top-end players, including Cooper Flagg in 2025 as well as Cameron Boozer, the son of the former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, in 2026.
Bogdanovic, 35, scored an average of 15.2 points in his team the Knicks as well as the Detroit Pistons last season. The Nets took him on in the year 2011 when they drafted him and he played for the first two and a half years of his professional career with the team.
Information obtained from ESPN Stats & Information and ESPN’s Bobby Marks was used in this report.
play
Woj describes the process by which Mikal Bridges deal with the Knicks was made (1:15)
Adrian Wojnarowski weighs in on the Knicks the decision to purchase Mikal Bridges of Brooklyn Nets. Brooklyn Nets. (1:15)