NBA trade news: Mikal Bridges to Knicks updates and rumors

In the Mikal Bridges trade, the Knicks will send to Brooklyn a 2025 Bucks pick that is top-4 protected, their own unprotected firsts in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031, and a 2025 second-round pick, plus a pick swap in 2026. New York also gets a 2026 second-rounder from Brooklyn in the deal.

Brooklyn couldn’t possibly move forward with the deal without the other half of it: Swapping future picks owed by the Phoenix Suns to Brooklyn for those owed by the Nets the Houston Rockets. Yes, they traded draft picks so they could tank. The NBA is amazing.

This came at a considerable cost, actually. People's brains are spinning right now trying to process all this, but the Nets had two unprotected firsts from the Dallas Mavericks and Suns in 2029 that now are essentially controlled by the Rockets – Houston gets the better of the two automatically, and can swap for the other one with its own pick. Given the odds of Phoenix being awful by then, that's a sweet haul.

The benefit for Brooklyn is that the 2025 pick swap given to Houston in the James Harden trade was removed, allowing the Nets to freely tank this coming season and have it benefit themselves rather than the Rockets. The Nets also got their own unprotected 2026 first-rounder back, again a key condition for bottoming out. Houston’s reward, in addition to that 2029 bounty, was an unprotected first-rounder from Phoenix in 2027 and a complicated pick swap in 2025 that can turn either their own pick or the Oklahoma City Thunder's into Phoenix's pick if it benefits them.

So the Nets gave up two unprotected picks (2029, 2027) for one unprotected pick in return (2026), and gave up two swaps (2029, 2025) for one admittedly more valuable swap (2025). It was understandable business for the Nets because it gets them out of mediocre, chase-the-play-in limbo and sets them in a new direction. They’re in a much better place now than they were 24 hours ago. Finally, just to be clear: Remember that there was no scenario where the Nets were making the Bridges trade without doing the Houston deal. That 2025 pick swap was never going to be as valuable to the Rockets as it now is to the Nets.

But my goodness, this was fantastic business for Houston.

Maybe you were worried 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, worry no further.

There are a lot of picks being thrown around. There are a lot of things to infer from this. So let’s bust out the red ink and throw some grades on the Mikal Bridges trade.

Knicks: A

Nets: A

Rockets: A-

Read on for my explanation of these grades.

A little tidbit: Bojan Bogdanović for Mikal Bridges would mean the Knicks are taking on money in this trade, which would hard cap them at the first apron. If they found a way to guarantee the contracts of Mamadi Diakite and DaQuan Jeffries and include them in the deal to Brooklyn, they would not be hard capped.

To be clear: Including those two guys would mean they would not be hard capped at the FIRST apron. They still would be hard capped at the second.

In case the Knicks need a veteran presence in the room after the Mikal Bridges trade, Kyle Lowry (Draft Class of 2006, Villanova) will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, too. Presumably Randy Foye and Allan Ray would also take James Dolan's money.

The Mikal Bridges trade to the Knicks is the first one between the Knicks and Nets since Len Elmore went across the Hudson to New York on June 22, 1983.

Holy cow.

For a Utah team that didn’t qualify for the playoffs for a second straight season, everything is on the table. If you are a Jazz fan, don't be surprised by anything that happens before Wednesday, on Wednesday night or even beyond Wednesday. Utah can try to trade up for someone it likes. The Jazz could trade back and try and pick up more assets. Utah can even trade out, although that scenario seems increasingly unlikely.

The Jazz are a major chess piece in this draft because they have three of the first 32 picks. In addition to No. 10, they also have picks No. 29 and 32. Because they had three rookies this season — Taylor Hendricks, Keyonte George and Brice Sensabaugh — ideally Utah isn't wild about having six players on its roster in the infancy of their professional development. And we can even throw center Walker Kessler into this mix because he's headed into his third year.

Still, general manager Justin Zanik certainly isn't ruling out the possibility of using all three picks. The Jazz are still in a stage in which they are developing a roster and trying to figure out what makes sense. Heading into the offseason, the lump of clay that is the Jazz roster still features Jordan Clarkson, John Collins and Colin Sexton. Lauri Markkanen is still the safest bet to be in a Jazz uniform for the long term. But this is a team that still needs a major overhaul, and Wednesday night's draft is step one on that road.

"We're a team that’s developing," Zanik said. "But it's important for us to have some veterans on the roster. However many young players that we have, we know the kids can't raise themselves."

Read more here.

Hearing the Pistons have worked out potential top-10 picks Donovan Clingan, Tidjane Salaun, Matas Buzelis and Cody Williams ahead of tomorrow’s NBA Draft.

Wouldn’t be surprised if Detroit, which has the No. 5 pick, moves out of their slot either.

The No. 5 pick is a key swing spot in the draft. League sources are struggling to determine the preferences of new Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon, since he wasn't running the show in New Orleans. Matas Buzelis is the most consistent name that comes up with the Pistons. The team has a need at the four, and Buzelis' agent, Michael Tellem, is the son of Pistons’ vice chairman Arn Tellem. However, Langdon has made it clear, both publicly and privately in conversations with league executives, that the team wants to add more assets to its cache.

In regard to No. 5, Langdon opened the door to moving the pick if it meant adding value to its asset cache.

"We're looking for the guy we feel has the best upside out of this draft," Langdon said during his introductory news conference last week. "And if that guy's not there at No. 5, and there's a team that's willing to give us an asset value to flip back, then maybe that's an opportunity as well. But as of right now, our vision is not to be out of this draft. We want to draft a player, and if we do flip back, it's not going to be that far."

The team is down one first-round pick following the Isaiah Stewart trade in the 2020 draft, so dealing No. 5 this season to gain more draft capital would provide Detroit more flexibility in the future.

Read my latest mock draft here.

The Pistons are hiring Dennis Lindsey as senior vice president of basketball operations, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. Lindsey was a president of basketball operations finalist.

President of basketball operation Trajan Langdon appears to have his front-office guys in place — Lindsey, Michael Blackstone, J. R. Holden and George David.

Again, don’t get caught up in titles.

New Chicago Bulls wing Josh Giddey said Tuesday he had little interest in moving to a reserve role in Oklahoma City, a shift Sam Presti, Thunder executive vice president and general manager, discussed with Giddey after the franchise fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. Dallas game planned to give Giddey space, and his poor outside shooting in the series forced Thunder coach Mark Daigneault to bench him for the final two games.

Soon after, Presti and Giddey had an open dialogue about what would come next.

"Obviously, I came off a tough year. My role shifted a little bit," Giddey said. "I was playing a lot more off-ball and kind of in a different role to what I've ever done in my career. So there was no secret that it was going to take some flexibility on my part to fit in with the team that we had and the structure that we had and the type of players that we had. He spoke to me about looking at potentially different roles, coming off the bench, running the second unit, things like that.

"And I just said to him, at this point in my career, I’m 21 years old, it wasn't something that I was overly eager to do. And he completely understood. Throughout the whole process, we were open and honest with each other. And I said to him, 'Look, coming off the bench at this point in my career is not something I'm trying to do and take a reserve role.' He got it. We worked together through the whole process and he got me to a great spot. I'm very, very excited to be here in Chicago."

Read my full report here.

There are significant off-court reasons to scotch the idea of Miles Bridges, and teams will have to weigh that. In terms of on-court impact, Bridges' BORD$ figure ($15,718,150) might come in a bit lower than some expect for an athletic scorer who is 26. He's been a spotty shooter (34.9 percent from 3 in 2023-24, 34.7 percent career), his defense was somewhere between "disappointing" and "awful" much of the season, and he doesn't draw many fouls or create a lot of chances for teammates.

What he does provide, in bunches, is scoring, averaging 21.0 points per game in 2023-24 while shooting 55 percent for his career on shots inside the arc. Given the dearth of combo forwards on the market, the basketball case for him as a sixth man is pretty solid.

If the market shuns him and he accepts a minimum deal, it would be the second straight season a 20-point scorer for the Hornets ended up playing for the minimum a year later; Kelly Oubre Jr. settled for the same in Philadelphia a year ago.

Read my list of the top 25 free agents here.

The conversation around the Hawks has been fascinating to track. Despite general manager Landry Fields saying the team is comfortable selecting at No. 1, league sources continue to get the impression Atlanta is open to offers for the right deal.

None of the league sources The Athletic has consulted has a good feel on the direction they’ll take. Donovan Clingan was the name linked with the Hawks most often last week, with many league sources noting he might fit better as a potential trade-down target. However, since Zaccharie Risacher's workout in Atlanta last week, his name has been raised increasingly often in conversations around the league. Alexandre Sarr's name occasionally comes up as well, but that could be an attempt to convince a trade up from Washington, the team most often linked with Sarr. Of course, that same logic could apply to any prospect; if other teams sense some doubt the player they want will be available — be it Risacher, Clingan or Sarr — they may be more apt to reach out to gauge Atlanta’s price for dealing the No. 1 pick.

I have Risacher for now if Atlanta keeps No. 1, but buckle up for a wild ride. If the Hawks do trade down in some fashion, Clingan would be a potential target, and they couldn't move down all that far to secure him. At the same time, league sources tell The Athletic it may be difficult for Atlanta to move off the pick, if only because the talent differential among the top six or so picks is considered to be minimal.

Read my most recent mock draft here.

Jay King and Kelly Iko joined me on the latest Athletic NBA Show podcast. We discussed the recent coaching additions for the Lakers and Cavaliers and gave our takes on the Thunder snagging Alex Caruso from the Bulls. Then, we entered the Ikosystem to discuss the draft, free agency, and possible trades for Houston, San Antonio, and Memphis.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's conundrum for the Nuggets is that he stands to make the team incredibly expensive, with a player option for $15.4 million for this season, but a BORD$ valuation for much more ($27,458,874). While he’s already 31 and the years will be a consideration, one could easily see a team giving him an offer somewhat similar to Bruce Brown's arrangement a year ago (Brown got two years, $45 million), except perhaps even more expensive. Would it be crazy to go three years and $80 million with a third-year team option?

I wrote about this already when I previewed free agency, but the Nuggets can also negotiate an extension with Caldwell-Pope that builds off his $15.4 million salary for 2024-25. If they were to retain him, this seems like the most cap-friendly way, even if it involves overpaying him in the later years of the deal. A four-year extension would add $97 million, taking the total value to $112 million and paying him until he’s 35. Is that better than what he can do in the cap room market? It’s close, seemingly.

Note that, if Caldwell-Pope leaves, the Nuggets will still be over the luxury tax for 2024-25 and would only have the taxpayer midlevel exception and trades as a means to replace him.

Read the rest of my top 25 available free agents list here.