- The Nets will reportedly get five first-round picks and a future pick swap
- Bridges reunites with four of his former Villanova Wildcat teammates at MSG
The NBA offseason kicked into full swing Tuesday night with news that the Brooklyn Nets have agreed to trade star forward Mikal Bridges across the East River to the rival New York Knicks.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Knicks will send four of their own unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029, 2031) to the Nets, as well as a protected 2025 Milwaukee Bucks first-round pick, an unprotected 2028 pick and a 2025 draft pick choice. second round pick. Finally, the Nets will re-acquire Bojan Bogdanovic, the veteran Croatian forward who started his NBA career in Brooklyn in 2014.
The trade reunites Bridges with his former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. The Wildcat quartet won the school’s second national championship together in 2016 under coach Jay Wright. Brunson, DiVincenzo and Bridges won another national title together in 2018 after Hart turned pro.
Bridges responded to the news on X: “This is crazy, lol.”
Neither Nets nor Knicks spokespeople responded to DailyMail.com’s requests for confirmation.
Mikal Bridges smiles at ex-Villanova teammate Josh Hart after a Nets-Knicks game in March
Bridges grabs a rebound in front of Villanova teammates Donte DiVincenzo (left) and Jalen Brunson (right) in 2018. The trio is now reunited with the New York Knicks
Donte Divincenzo #0, Jalen Brunson #11 and Josh Hart #3 of the New York Knicks in May
According to various reports, Bridges was previously considered untouchable by the Nets.
After averaging 19.6 points per game for the struggling Nets, Bridges now joins a Knicks team that reached the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2024.
Bridges was a first-round pick out of Villanova in 2018 by his hometown Philadelphia 76ers, who coincidentally employed his mother at the time.
But in a cruel twist of fate, Bridges was instead traded to the Suns in a draft-night deal and played his first four seasons in Phoenix before being acquired by Brooklyn in the trade for Kevin Durant.
The deal appears to mark the end of OG Anunoby’s brief run in New York following his reported decision to opt out of his contract and test the free-agent market. ESPN reports that the Knicks still hope to re-sign the defensive stopper, but that could make it difficult to re-sign center Isaiah Hartenstein.
The Knicks acquired Anunoby from Toronto before the 2024 trade deadline, but he battled injuries in just 23 games with New York while making just 9 of 13 postseason appearances.