The Knicks took their first step toward challenging the Celtics for Eastern Conference supremacy Tuesday, swinging a blockbuster trade on the eve of the 2024 NBA Draft.
New York shipped a package that included a staggering four unprotected first-round draft picks to Brooklyn to acquire veteran wing Mikal Bridges. The Nets also received a top-four protected 2025 first-round pick via Milwaukee, a 2025 second-rounder, a pick swap in 2028 and forward Bojan Bogdanovich as part of the deal, according to reports.
It was a massive price to pay for a player with Bridges’ resume. The 27-year-old wasn’t an All-Star in any of his six seasons with Brooklyn and Phoenix and hasn’t come close to cracking an All-NBA team (three total votes in his career). But he’s regarded as a top-tier defender — he made first-team All-Defense and was runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year in 2021-22 — and has been hyper-durable throughout his career.
Bridges has not missed a game since high school and ranked in the top four in the NBA in minutes played in each of the last three seasons, topping that list in 2021-22 and ’22-23. That surely was a strong selling point for a Knicks team that was pummeled by injuries in this year’s playoffs.
New York finished with the East’s second-best record behind Boston, but by the end of the second round, Tom Thibodeau’s squad was playing without Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, OG Anunoby, Bogdanovich and superstar point guard Jalen Brunson. The Knicks lost in seven games to the sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers, who were then swept by the Celtics in the conference finals.
Can Bridges — who played with new Knicks teammates Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo at Villanova — be the difference-maker that helps New York dethrone the reigning NBA champs? The Knicks clearly believe so, and they were willing to mortgage their future to bring him aboard.
At minimum, adding Bridges should make New York better equipped to defend Boston’s star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum shot better than 50% from the floor and averaged 26.2 points per game against the Knicks this past season, including one 35-point game and another with 34.
The Celtics went 4-1 against their longtime Atlantic Division rivals, with their lone loss coming after they’d already clinched the league’s best record.
Bridges averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game for a bad Nets team, shooting 43.6% from the field, 37.2% from 3-point range and 81.4% on free throws.
The Knicks reportedly hope to also re-sign Anunoby, a key trade deadline acquisition who is set to hit free agency. If they do, their core rotation would rank among the best in basketball, even if they’re unable to retain effective big man Isaiah Hartenstein.
At this early stage, the Knicks look like the Celtics’ most formidable Eastern Conference foe if they can avoid the injury issues that crippled them this spring. Time will tell whether their high-stakes play to vault past Boston — which is set to return nearly every key member of its title-winning roster — will pay off.
“When you win, the other 29 teams target you,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said hours before the Bridges trade was reported. “It’s a different thing to come back from and then be great again. But that’s a fun challenge, too. … I’m looking forward to it. I know our guys will be looking forward to it.”
