By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The New York Knicks just kicked off its NBA off-season moves after striking a deal with the Brooklyn Nets confirmed on June 26, 2024.
According to ESPN veteran NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the Knicks will be acquiring versatile small forward Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic and a bunch of first-round picks.
To seal the deal with Brooklyn, New York had to send away its four unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029, 2031), a 2025 protected first-round pick from Milwaukee, a 2028 unprotected pick swap, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2026 second-round pick just to secure the services of Bridges.
Seeking to add more firepower to fortify its quest for an NBA Playoff glory, New York didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger and get Bridges from Brooklyn.
Bridges is known for his two-way efficiency in the league, one of the traits that head coach Tom Thibodeau likes the most in his pool of players.
Since getting traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Nets, Bridges blossomed into an offensive star, proof is his spike in scoring after averaging 19.6 points during the 2023-2024 NBA season.
In almost 35 minutes of playing time per game, Bridges also stuffed the stat sheets for Brooklyn and averaged 4.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists every contest.
Bridges’ arrival in New York will also mark his reunion with his former teammates at the Villanova Wildcats basketball program, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo.
With a healthy Julius Randle next NBA season, league scouts expect high things from the Knicks if the Villanova reunion experiment will work for New York.
