Mikal Bridges heads to Manhattan to reunite with his former teammates.
The Brooklyn Nets reached an agreement to trade Bridges to the New York Knicks on Tuesday night, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. In exchange, the Nets will receive Bojan Bogdanović and a large amount of future draft capital, including four unprotected first-round picks.
The Knicks are sending four unprotected picks (2025, 2027, 2029, 2031), a protected 2025 first-round pick to Milwaukee, a swap of 2028 unprotected picks and a 2025 second-round pick for Mikal Bridges and a second-round pick 2026, sources told ESPN. https://t.co/E4pTq3wCMP
—Adrián Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2024
The deal will reunite Bridges, a former Villanova star, with former Wildcats Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. Bridges spent three seasons at Villanova and won two national championships there.
This is crazy hahaha
– Mikal Bridges (@mikal_bridges) June 26, 2024
The group even participated in a great FaceTime call Tuesday night.
The Nets will receive an unprotected first-round pick in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031, according to Wojnarowski. They will also receive a protected first-round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks in 2025, a second-round pick in 2025 and a protected pick swap in 2028.
Bridges averaged 19.6 points and 4.5 rebounds last year with the Nets, his first full season with the team after they landed him in Kevin Durant’s deal with the Phoenix Suns before the deadline in 2023. He has left two years of his four-year contract. $90.9 million deal.
Bagdanović, 35, was traded to the Knicks earlier this season from the Detroit Pistons and was instrumental in their playoff run, which ended in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second straight season. He averaged 10.4 points and two rebounds in 29 games off the bench.
The Nets, who have since hired head coach Jordi Fernandez, went 32-50 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018. They are now seeking a significant rebuild that, considering the draft picks they now have available, it is absolutely possible in the coming years.
Although the Knicks still have important pieces to figure out this offseason, especially when it comes to free agent OG Anunoby, they are clearly hoping that Bridges’ reunion with Villanova can propel them to at least the Eastern Conference Finals after what will be a drought. 25 years old. the next spring.
Nets trade picks with Rockets, who reportedly want Kevin Durant
The Nets didn’t end there.
Shortly after that deal was reported, the Nets reached an agreement to restructure several draft picks with the Houston Rockets.
More in the deal: Houston acquires the more favorable 2029 first-round picks from Dallas and Phoenix, and gains the right to swap Houston’s first-round pick for the less favorable Dallas first and Phoenix first, according to sources. https://t.co/jUR0f5lSjM
—Adrián Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2024
According to Wojnarowski, that deal was made because the Rockets want to make a move to land Suns star Kevin Durant in a future trade. While the Suns have not said they are willing to deal Durant, who will enter his 18th year in the league this fall, the Rockets now have the options to potentially pursue such a deal.
If that can’t happen, the Rockets are “determined” to use the Suns’ picks to be aggressive elsewhere. The Rockets are reportedly “looking for a major upgrade now.” Houston went 41-41 last season and narrowly missed the playoffs under first-year head coach Ime Udoka.
