I don't think Mikal Bridges deserves the Rudy Gobert treatment.
I mean, that's a lot of draft picks.
I know the trade can still be altered, since the NBA allows their teams to swap players come July 1. I also believe that this is a great marketing ploy for the Knicks to have a quartet that found success in college and hopefully, in the NBA. This is a great situation for Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo, who are probably going to lose more than the Knicks once they decide to scatter the Nova Knicks.
But yeah... that's a lot of draft picks.
NEW YORK GETS
PLAYERS
MIKAL BRIDGES | TURNING 28 THIS 2024
2023-24 NBA SEASON | 19.6PPG | 4.5RPG | 3.6APG | 1.0SPG | 0.4BPG | .436 FG | .814 FT | 2.7 3PG
CONTRACT SITUATION | Second year (of three) in the existing contract - 2024-25 season (worth 23.3M)
PICKS
2026 SECOND-ROUND PICK
BROOKLYN GETS
PLAYERS
BOJAN BOGDANOVIC | TURNED 35 THIS 2024
2023-24 NBA SEASON | 15.2PPG | 2.7RPG | 1.7APG | 0.5SPG | 0.1BPG | .454 FG | .785 FT | 2.3 3PG
CONTRACT SITUATION | Final year in the existing contract - 2024-25 season (worth 19M)
PICKS / SWAPS
2025 FIRST-ROUND PICK (UNPROTECTED)
2025 FIRST-ROUND PICK VIA MILWAUKEE (TOP 4, PROTECTED)
2025 SECOND-ROUND PICK
2027 FIRST-ROUND PICK (UNPROTECTED)
2028 PICK SWAP (UNPROTECTED)
2029 FIRST-ROUND PICK (UNPROTECTED)
2031 FIRST-ROUND PICK (UNPROTECTED)
Poor Bojan. The Bosnian legend is getting the numbers, but he is a trade piece now. He is going to enter his eleventh year playing for his eighth team. The only good thing he's doing is that he has yet to average in single digits after his rookie year in 2014-15, but given his age and the most likely scenario, he will be traded again to a contender.
And this is a scary full-circle moment for the veteran because he spent his first two-and-a-half seasons with the Nets.
Anyway, I wonder how Bridges and Tom Thibodeau will exist because one is a player who has a reputation for never missing any games, and then there's the coach who loves to overly use his starters.
Anytime a team, regardless of the situation, is going to use all that clout to swap talents, has to be in some sort of win-now mode. I guess the Knicks are happy with what they did last season, but young teams have a tendency to exaggerate their chances only to get ruined in the long run. Brooklyn had that same problem when they upgraded their squad a few years back, and early in their move from New Jersey, they traded their assets to Boston.
As you know, two of those picks became Boston's soon-to-be legends, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
With that said the aura in NYK is so good right now. They have been struggling before Julius Randle and the emergence of Jalen Brunson is what they have right now. Gone are also the days when the Knicks were making unreal trades that gave them a surplus of shoot-first guards, shooters, and slashers who couldn't play with each other. It's like they are in some sort of era of good feeling, and the entire NBA is placed on notice.
But until the Knicks have proven their selves, this move is going to destroy their future.