Knicks land Mikal Bridges in trade with Nets

Mikal Bridges is headed to a new team. But while he’ll be wearing a different uniform, he’ll be in a familiar situation.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on Tuesday night that the New York Knicks have acquired Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets. The trade will reunite Bridges with Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart. The four players were all part of Villanova’s national championship-winning team in 2016 and all but Hart were on the Wildcats team that won another championship two years later.

But as Wojnarowski detailed on X (formerly Twitter), the Knicks paid a significant price to get Bridges.

“The Brooklyn Nets have agreed in principle on a trade to send F Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks, a protected first-round pick via Bucks, an unprotected pick swap and a second-rounder, sources tell ESPN,” Wojnarowski reported.

In a follow-up message, Wojnarowski noted, “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.”

Bridges played in all 82 games of the 2023-24 season for the Nets. He averaged 19.6 points per game while shooting 43.6% from the field, 37.2% on threes and 81.4% on free throws. He went to the Nets at the 2023 trade deadline as part of the trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns.

[Adrian Wojnarowski on X]