Knicks move to strengthen their championship aspirations acquiring Bridges
The key decision makers for the New York Knicks, led by team president Leon Rose, watched the Boston Celtics, the newly crowned NBA champions, sweep through the regular and postseasons in near historic fashion with a cumulative record of 80-21, driven by a bevy of elite two-way wing players.
In a league where matching up with opponents, particularly the NBA’s best, is schematically vital, the Knicks moved to counter the Celtics by agreeing to a deal that had social media ablaze on Tuesday night, acquiring multiskilled forward Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for what was first reported by ESPN to be forward Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks (2025, ‘27, ‘29, ‘31), a 2025 protected pick from the Milwaukee Bucks, a pick swap in 2028, and a 2025 second-round pick. In addition to Bridges, the Knicks will receive a 2026 second-round pick to the deal. The Knicks, as of AmNews press time, still held the 24th and 25th overall picks in last night’s NBA Draft held at the Barclays Center.
The trade for Bridges signals that Rose, Knicks’ executive vice president William Wesley, general manager Gersson Rosas, and head coach Tom Thibodeau had strong conviction the team could be a title contender next season with the attainment of Bridges, at 27 one of the best two-way wings in the world, and that he was equivalent to or exceeded the assets they relinquished. The Knicks have reached the Eastern Conference semifinals the past two seasons. For the Nets, who are in rebuilding mode, they now have draft capital, which they severely lacked prior to swapping Bridges.
A 2022 All Defensive First Team selection, Bridges also averaged 26.1 points as a member of the Phoenix Suns and Nets two seasons ago and 19.6 last season. The Philadelphia native will be rejoining former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. A durable player, Bridges has appeared in 474 of his teams’ 492 games over six seasons. He has two years left on his contract at $23.3 million next season and $24.9 million in the 2025-26 campaign.
Now the Knicks will look to secure forward OG Anunoby, who declined his player option for next season, to a long-term contract at an average annual salary of roughly $37 million. Locking in Anunoby is immensely important to constructing a championship core that would be composed of Brunson, Julius Randle, and now Bridges.
Re-signing center Isaiah Hartenstein, who had a career year this past season, seems unlikely due to the meteoric rise in his value. The Knicks inked the 26-year-old Hartenstein to a two-year, $16 million deal in July 2022. He markedly outperformed that number and the league’s collective bargaining agreement limits the Knicks to offering Hartenstein at most a four-year, $72 million contract. He will be enticed by significantly more from several bidders.
The post Knicks move to strengthen their championship aspirations acquiring Bridges appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.