Inside the Mikal Bridges trade: What it means for the Knicks and the league as a whole

The Empire State Building lit up blue and orange Tuesday night, officially celebrating the Mets’ victory. But the lights took on those same colors for the Knicks just minutes after the announcement that New York was sending five first-round picks across the East River so that Brooklyn finally parted ways with defensive stalwart Mikal Bridges.

Rival teams were sensing Brooklyn’s growing desire to part ways with Bridges in recent days, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Utah and Houston were two of the other teams mentioned by league staff that were actively involved in pursuing Bridges. The Nets had swept up offers for Bridges in previous deal rounds that compiled as many as four first-round picks, sources said. And until Monday, none of Brooklyn’s conversations with those three teams or others were considered serious, sources said. That is until the Knicks came back with four unprotected first-rounders — starting in 2025 — plus a protected first-round pick from the Bucks, then the rights for Brooklyn to trade first-rounders with New York in 2028, have league sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports.

All of this amounts to six total years of draft capital, one of, if not the, largest returns for a player who has never been named an All-Star in NBA history. Bridges is arguably worth more to the Knicks than any other team, a chance to bring in a fourth Wildcat from Villanova’s three years behind Jalen Brunson who won national titles in 2016 and 2018. Bridges is also considered one of best options New York could have found to counter Boston’s two-way wing lineup that just won this year’s championship. Bridges has always had his eye on New York, sources said, especially after the Knicks added Donte DiVincenzo last summer following the February 2023 trade deadline deal that brought Josh Hart over the door. Those Wildcat ties run deep and Kyle Lowry has even been mentioned by NBA numbers as a target for New York in free agency, according to sources.

Bridges, however, did not request a trade this week, sources said. If anything, it indicates that Brooklyn surveyed the market for possible additions this summer and did not find the Nets’ star running mate, the Nets staff had long hoped Bridges would help lure Brooklyn. Damian Lillard surely had an eye for the Nets last summer, but he ended up in Milwaukee. The entire league is preparing for Donovan Mitchell to sign an extension with Cleveland. And the hiring of Jordi Fernandez – the highly regarded Canadian national team head coach who last served as Mike Brown’s assistant – to the Nets’ sideline has made Brooklyn a premier bench leader. year with the experience to compete for the playoffs and youth and the openness to building a program, compared to a simply competition-focused head coach like Mike Budenholzer.

The Nets, of course, were always aware of Bridges’ interest in joining New York. The Knicks, according to sources, upped the ante on Tuesday with a big offer that Brooklyn simply couldn’t refuse, marking the first time these two neighboring franchises have struck a deal since 1983. That synergy alone came as a shock to many seasoned observers of the league. Back when Kevin Durant first requested a trade from the Nets in the summer of 2022, various Brooklyn staffers vowed that the club would never send the All-Star to Madison Square Garden. The Knicks going all-in, mortgaging five of their eight available first-round picks that New York once determined were too much for Mitchell, was clearly enough to get the Nets ready to work the deck.

Things are of course very different above Penn Station, since the failure of negotiations between New York and Utah. Brunson has since become a true MVP candidate, one of the league’s most highly touted playoff scorers. New York was inches away from the Eastern Conference finals, and a healthy Knicks team had convinced many in the league that it posed the biggest threat to challenge Boston in the East. The addition of Bridges likely cements that notion, even if Philadelphia can manage to steal Paul George from the Los Angeles Clippers. All signs point to New York re-signing OG Anunoby as well, and you have quite the upper hand on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the defensive side of Boston’s drives and kicking.

That’s quite an argument for Brunson to sign the four-year, $156 million extension he’s eligible to sign on July 12. Despite all that money, that would still represent a huge underpayment for an All-Star fresh off a fifth-place finish. MVP finish. In what could be a key moment in the NBA market, Brunson actively choosing over $100 million less than would be available to him next summer would be a seismic move from players of his caliber commanding the biggest absolute dollar over the last decade and counting. This has been a course correction since LeBron James reversed course after his salary cuts in Miami. The finances, however, would be much more difficult for New York to build a sustainable winner, and the Knicks already appear likely to waive Isaiah Hartenstein in favor of unrestricted free agency due to cap restrictions following the deal for Bridges.

The Nets are still likely to re-sign Nic Claxton, despite this being a clear pivot toward a rebuild. Brooklyn received Bojan Bogdanović as salary cap for Bridges, and the veteran could have immediate re-trade value to the Nets. Bogdanović is expected to return by October after season-ending foot and wrist surgeries, sources said. If you need further proof of Brooklyn’s pivot, the Nets made a subsequent deal with Houston after landing their blockbuster Bridges. In short, Brooklyn had been discussing various executives with the Rockets since the trade deadline regarding returning Nets picks to the Barclays Center. All of this means Brooklyn can directly benefit from its own drop in the rankings – and no longer award the No. 3 pick to Houston.

The Nets got back the pick swaps they previously sent to Houston in the January 2021 James Harden trade, got back their own 2026 first-round pick, then sent Houston’s first-round pick 2027 Phoenix in Durant-to-Suns trade. at last year’s deadline, as well as other trades with the Suns. Full conditions, by source:

• Houston waives 2025 right to trade HOU/OKC first-round pick for BKN first-round pick

• Houston acquires right to first trade HOU/OKC for PHX in 2025

• Brooklyn acquires 2026 BKN first

• Houston acquires PHX 2027 first

• Houston acquires 2029’s more favorable DAL first and PHX first, and Houston acquires the 2029 right to exchange HOU first for less favorable DAL first and PHX first (in other words, Houston receives/retains the two most favorable from DAL, HOU and PHX first). , and Brooklyn receives/retains the least favorable of DAL, HOU & PHX first)

For weeks, the NBA has been calling George’s decision to stay in Los Angeles and test the open market – or perhaps enter the final year and collect nearly $50 million on his contract and request a trade – as the key domino of this offseason. His outcome impacts the potential outcomes and cap space of so many teams, and therefore so many players who could benefit or lose their own options. Bridges to New York has a direct impact on Hartenstein, but could its biggest ripple effect be incentivizing teams willing to trade for one last piece that could put them over the hump?