The Brooklyn Nets and Mikal Bridges were viewed as a pairing that would go on for years until the franchise found the star to pair with Bridges. However, after plenty of reporting of Brooklyn not being willing to trade Bridges away for any offer, it looks like they were just driving up the price for their most valuable player.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Tuesday, the Nets agreed in principle to send Bridges to the New York Knicks in exchange for forward Bojan Bogdanovic, five first-round picks, an unprotected pick swap and a second-round pick. Four of the five first-round picks are unprotected while the first-round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks is protected.
“The Knicks are sending four unprotected picks (2025, 2027, 2029, 2031) a 2025 protected Milwaukee first, a 2028 unprotected pick swap and a 2025 second-round pick for Mikal Bridges and a 2026 second-round pick,” Wojnarowski wrote on X.
While there had been some rumors of the Knicks being one of the teams periodically checking in with Bridges, it looks like they were doing more than just checking in.
This trade signals that the Nets are entering a full rebuild as Bridges was their best player, but seemed to be someone that was valuable to the team as a trade piece as opposed to having on the team for the time that Brooklyn was ready to win again.
It should be noted that while Aran Smith of NBADraft.net reported that the Nets could be one of the teams going after one of the Knicks’ two first-round picks they have in the upcoming NBA Draft, they did not acquire any capital in this Draft as of yet.
Well, it looks like the Nets got the haul they wanted for Mikal Bridges. Despite the fact that the Nets were adamant about not trading Bridges away, it looks like Brooklyn finally gave it and sent Bridges to reunite with his Villanova teammates. This starts the full rebuild. https://t.co/iIpqpp6HA9
— Sharif Phillips-Keaton (@SharifKeaton) June 26, 2024
The Knicks pay a steep price to land one of the league’s most coveted trade assets and the Nets get a massive haul to replenish assets and embark on a rebuild with mass cap space and future draft picks.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2024
The Knicks are sending four unprotected picks (2025, 2027, 2029, 2031) a 2025 protected Milwaukee first, a 2028 unprotected pick swap and a 2025 second-round pick for Mikal Bridges and a 2026 second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/E4pTq3wCMP
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2024
