Mikal Bridges Trade Review: Will the Knicks, Nets, and Rockets All Win?

Maybe you were worried that the New York Knicks didn’t have enough Villanova players after their success this season with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. Well, worry no more.

The Knicks are acquiring Mikal Bridges and a second-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Bojan Bogdanović, five first-round picks and a second-round pick, league sources confirmed Tuesday night. The Nets also make a trade with the Houston Rockets, trading first-round picks Phoenix owes them from the Kevin Durant trade to get their own picks back from the James Harden trade.

The Nets have traded Mikal Bridges to the Knicks, sources say @TheAthletic @Stadium. photo.twitter.com/whfKZ66tmZ

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 26, 2024

Sources: The Brooklyn Nets trade a 2025 Suns pick swap, a 2027 Suns first-rounder and a first-rounder and trade to the Houston Rockets in 2029 for their own 2025 pick swap and the 2026 first-round pick from James Harden -transaction.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 26, 2024

ESPN reported the details of the deal: four unprotected first-round picks from the Knicks, a protected first-round pick from the Bucks, and a future second-round pick, along with Bogdanovic. There are a lot of picks being thrown around. There are a lot of things to take away from this. So let’s get the red ink out and crunch some numbers on this deal.

Knicks acquire Mikal Bridges and a second-round pick

Last season, the Knicks finished second in the East, reached the second round of the playoffs and then fell to Indiana after injuries to several key players, including OG Anunoby.

The Knicks acquired Anunoby midseason and ran away with it after the move. It helped catapult them to the top of the East, even with Anunoby missing 27 regular-season games after the trade with an elbow injury and then suffering a hamstring injury in the Indiana series. That makes the acquisition of Bridges, who hasn’t missed a game in his six-year NBA career, even more significant. (Technically, Bridges missed one game in the 2022-23 season when he was traded from Phoenix to Brooklyn in the Kevin Durant deal, but the NBA doesn’t count that as a missed game. In fact, he played in 83 games that season because of the schedules of the two teams he played for.)

GO DEEPER

‘I just want to play every game’: Nets’ Mikal Bridges is more than the NBA’s Iron Man, he’s determined

We can start by talking about how the 27-year-old Bridges is one of the better two-way players in the NBA. His defense has been excellent most years, though it has taken a dip when he was asked to create more offense in Brooklyn. He went from being a decent safety valve on offense with excellent defense in Phoenix to a 21-point-per-game scorer with solid defense in Brooklyn. By putting him on the Knicks, he can expend a lot more energy on the defensive end of the floor, and by pairing him with Anunoby, New York can put some serious pressure on opposing scorers. The Knicks still need to re-sign Anunoby in free agency, but that has been expected since he moved to New York in late December.

That’s a lot of draft capital to give up for Bridges; what is essentially five first-round picks and a second-round pick is a Rudy Gobert-level package. But adding Bridges to the mix with Hart, DiVincenzo and Brunson bolsters a team that already boasts some of the best chemistry in the league. It may cost the Knicks Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency, but he’d be tough to keep unless he took a discount. We’ll see if Julius Randle is still in the Knicks’ long-term plans after this move, but they have a loaded rotation ready to compete for supremacy in the East.

Class A

Nets acquire Bojan Bogdanović, six first-round picks, their own 2025 pick in trade from Houston and a second-round pick

There are so many picks floating around in these two deals for the Nets, so let’s take a look at everything they appear to be acquiring, besides bringing back Bogdanović, who played in Brooklyn from 2014-2017. Here are the picks the Nets are getting in this deal:

• Four unprotected Knicks first-round picks in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031;
• A protected 2025 top-four first-round pick from Milwaukee via New York;
• A 2025 first-round pick swap they owed to Houston from the Harden trade;
• A 2026 first-round pick they owed to Houston via the Harden trade;
• An unprotected swap of 2028 first-round picks with the Knicks;
• A 2025 second round pick from New York.

That’s more picks than Rudy Gobert would make on a single play in Quin Snyder’s offense! (This joke is intended for a very niche audience, but I hope the editors don’t delete it.)

This is a surprising move by the Nets, considering that they reportedly rejected Jalen Green and more than four first-round picks from Houston at the trade deadline. Between these two trades, they acquired a host of picks to replenish their cabinet and can now take advantage of wrestling on the court again. (Houston has the third pick in this draft because of a pick owed to them by the Nets from the Harden deal.)

The Nets are banking on the idea that the Knicks will struggle again, hopefully (for Brooklyn) no later than 2029. That remains to be seen, as the Knicks have assembled an incredible roster and could continue to find success in the Brunson era. It will be important for the Nets to get back to making their own choices heading into next year’s draft class, which is loaded with top prospects who could end up being franchise-changers. Brooklyn is fortunate that the third overall pick it passed on to Houston this season is having a down year.

Brooklyn has now essentially acquired nine first-round picks, along with Cameron Johnson, from the 2023 Durant trade. We’ll see what else the Nets can do to rebuild this roster in a favorable market in the coming seasons.

Class A

Rockets acquire Suns 2025 pick swap, 2027 first, 2029 first and Brooklyn pick swap

Let’s take a look at what the Rockets are acquiring from the Nets here as they shuffle some first-round picks in preparation for an aggressive summer of trade opportunities. Here’s what they’re getting from the Brooklyn trade:

• First-round pick trade from Phoenix in 2025 to Brooklyn, which was due in the Kevin Durant trade;
• Phoenix’s 2027 first-round pick comes to Brooklyn in Durant trade;
• 2029 first-round pick from Phoenix or Dallas, whichever is more favorable;
• Trade 2029 first-round pick for less favorable picks in Phoenix or Dallas.

Under new coach Ime Udoka, the Rockets surprised many last season by finishing 41-41. Young players like 21-year-old Alperen Şengün and 22-year-old Jalen Green stepped up tremendously, as did 21-year-old Jabari Smith Jr. in his role. We also saw some good things from 2023 first-round picks Amen Thompson (21) and 2023 first-round pick Cam Whitmore (19), as well as 2022 first-round pick Tari Eason (23). Veterans Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks and Jeff Green have proven to be useful mentors for this young cast of players. The Rockets can’t wait to make the playoffs again, and they’re now armed with some impressive draft picks and other assets to become key players on the trade market.

Perhaps Houston can convince the Phoenix Suns that their three-star core isn’t going anywhere and trade their picks back to Durant or Devin Booker sometime next season or two. Phoenix wants to win now, but that situation could quickly turn ugly after last season’s first-round sweep of Minnesota. Regardless of who the Rockets want to trade, they have one of the most impressive treasure troves of trade assets to entice a team with a disgruntled star looking to win elsewhere.

This deal may be the first win-win-win we’ve seen in a while, but that depends on what the Nets and Rockets do with all this draft shuffling.

Class A-

(Top photo: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)