Mikal Bridges’ trade evaluation: Did the Knicks, Nets, and Rockets win?

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

The New York Knicks will acquire Mikal Bridges and a second-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic, five first-round picks and a second-round pick, league sources confirmed Tuesday evening. The Nets are also making a deal with the Houston Rockets, trading the first-round picks owed to them from Phoenix from the Kevin Durant trade in order to get their own picks from the James Harden trade.

Sources say the Nets have traded Mikal Bridges to the Knicks @athlete @stadium. pic.twitter.com/whfKZ66tmZ

– Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 26, 2024

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

– Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 26, 2024

ESPN reported 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 choices that are presented. There are a lot of things that can be deduced from this. So let’s get rid of the red ink and put some labels on this trade.

Knicks acquire Mikal Bridges and second-round pick

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

The Knicks acquired Anunoby midseason and have taken off after making the move. It’s helped propel them to the top of the East, even as Anunoby missed 27 regular-season games with an elbow injury and then suffered a hamstring injury in the Indiana series. That makes the acquisition of Bridges, who has yet to miss a game in his six-year NBA career, all the more significant. (Bridges technically 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 83 games that season due to the schedules of the two teams he played for.)

We can start by talking about how the 27-year-old Bridges is one of the best two-way players in the NBA. His defense has been excellent most years, though it has declined as he has been asked to create more offense in Brooklyn. He went from a decent safety valve on offense with an excellent defense in Phoenix to a 21-points-per-game scorer with a solid defense in Brooklyn. Placing him on the Knicks would allow him to devote more energy on the defensive end of the court, and pairing him with Anunoby could allow New York to seriously pick up on opposing scorers. The Knicks have yet to re-sign Anunoby in free agency, but that has been expected to happen since he traded to New York at the end of December.

This is a large amount of capital to give up to 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 has some of the best chemistry in the league. It may cost Knicks big man Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency, but it will already be difficult to keep him unless he gets a discount. We’ll see if Julius Randle is still in the Knicks’ long-term plans after the move, but they have a loaded rotation to battle for supremacy in the East.

Grade: A

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

There are a lot of options flying around these two deals with the Nets, so let’s break down everything they appear to be getting in addition to bringing back Bogdanovic, who played in Brooklyn from 2014-17. These are the picks the Nets are getting in this trade:

• The Knicks’ four unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031;
• A top-four protected 2025 first-round pick from Milwaukee via New York;
• Trading the 2025 first-round pick they owe to Houston from the Harden trade;
• The 2026 first-round pick they owe Houston from the Harden trade.
• Swapping an unprotected pick in 2028 with a first-round pick to the Knicks;
• A 2025 second-round pick from New York.

That’s more picks than Rudy Gobert could take in one game in Quin Snyder’s offense! (This joke is intended for a very niche audience but I hope the editors don’t remove it.)

This is a surprising move by the Nets, considering they are… It was reportedly rejected. Jalen Green and over four first-round picks from Houston at the trade deadline. Between these two transactions, they have been given a plethora of picks to restock their locker and can now capitalize on the struggle on the field once again. (Houston has the third pick in this draft due to the pick owed to them by the Nets from the Harden deal.)

The Nets are banking on the idea that the Knicks will be bad again, hopefully (for Brooklyn) by 2029 at the latest. It remains to be seen, as the Knicks have assembled an amazing team and could continue to have more and more success in the Brunson era. It’s important that the Nets have their own picks again as they enter next year’s draft class, which is full of top prospects who could end up changing the franchise. Brooklyn is fortunate to have the third overall pick taken to Houston this offseason in the draft.

Brooklyn now essentially gets nine first-round picks, along with Cameron Johnson, from Durant’s 2023 deal. We’ll see what the Nets can do to rebuild this roster over the next two seasons in a favorable market.

Grade: A

Rockets get 2025 Suns pick swap, 2027 first pick, 2029 first pick swap from Brooklyn

Let’s get into what the Rockets gained from the Nets here as they cycle through some first-round picks in preparation for a summer full of trade opportunities. This is what they got from the Brooklyn trade:

• Trading a 2025 first-round pick from Phoenix owed to Brooklyn from the Kevin Durant trade;
• The 2027 first-round pick from Phoenix is ​​owed to Brooklyn in the Durant trade.
• A 2029 first-round pick from Phoenix or Dallas, depending on which is more preferable;
• Trading a 2029 first-round pick for less desirable picks from Phoenix or Dallas.

Under new coach Emi 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 have grown tremendously, as has 21-year-old Jabari Smith Jr. in his role. We’ve also seen some good things from 2023 first-round picks Ameen Thompson (21) and 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 The young group of players. The Rockets don’t want to miss the playoffs anymore, and now they’re armed with some great draft picks and other assets to be major players on the trade market.

Perhaps Houston will try to convince the Phoenix Suns that their three-star prospect isn’t going anywhere and offer their picks to Durant or Devin Booker at some point in the next season or two. Phoenix wants to win now, but that situation could get ugly quickly after last season’s first-round sweep at the hands of Minnesota. No matter who the Rockets target in the trade market, they have one of the most impressive troves of trade assets to entice to a team that includes a disgruntled star looking to win elsewhere.

This trade could be the first win-win we’ve seen in a while, but it depends on what the Brooklyn Nets and Rockets do with all this change in picks.

Grade: A-

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