Mikal Bridges Trade Trancends Knicks Into 'Another Level’ (2024)

The New York Knicks , or ‘Nova Knicks as they’re now newly nicknamed after they added yet another former Villanova Wildcat to their roster when they traded with their neighbors, the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges .

With his addition to the team, joining his former college teammates Jalen Brunson , Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart , league insider Mark Medina believes the deal puts the Knicks on ‘another level’ as they seek to compete with the NBA ’s top title contenders.

Knicks Have Set Themselves Up for Prolonged Success

Traded for Mikal Bridges, re-signed OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson took paycut

The Knicks have been one of the most active teams in the 2024 summer off-season as they sought to build upon the success of last season, whereby they reached the Eastern Conference semi-finals, and were on the wrong side of a grueling seven-game series against the Indiana Pacers after a plethora of injuries dictated their fate.

They began their summer by acquiring Mikal Bridges from their local rivals, the Nets, in what was a huge deal, which included them parting ways with Bojan Bogdanovic and four unprotected first-round draft picks, among many others, setting the tone early for how the off-season may plan out for others.

New York were also able to re-sign OG Anunoby to a five-year, $212.5 million deal, who, having initially opted out of his $19.9 player option, sent shockwaves around the NBA with it not looking entirely certain that the 3-and-D forward would return to the Knicks, amid the plethora of interest he received.

One dent in their stellar off-season, which now has them viewed as strong contenders in the East after All-Star Jalen Brunson took a huge paycut worth approximately $113 million to give his team financial flexibility, though, was the loss of big man Isaiah Hartenstein .

Despite reportedly having been willing to take a discount like Brunson – though that emerged after the fact - after some very careful deliberation, the 7-foot big chose to join the Oklahoma City Thunder in free-agency, in a deal worth three-years, $87 million – a price the Knicks simply couldn’t afford to match.

Hart, DiVincenzo and Brunson are ‘On Cloud Nine’ with Bridges trade

Medina is certain that the Knicks camp is extremely excited about having Bridges reunite with his former college teammates on the same team, believing it will put the New York outfit on another level with their competitors.

Furthermore, the journalist argues that it was a good move for the Nets to deal him because he is more suited to being a complementary star as opposed to the number one option on a franchise.

Bridges’ Value as a Complementary Star

Nets’ second-leading scorer last season averaging 19.6 PPG

After being traded to the Nets from the Phoenix Suns in the blockbuster trade centered around Kevin Durant back in 2023, Bridges found himself as the number one option in Brooklyn, having played more of a complementary role when with the Suns.

In his short stint with the Nets, though, he played some of his best basketball, including last season, where he averaged 19.6 points shooting at a 43.6 percent clip, including shooting 37.2 percent from the three-point line, averaging 2.7 attempts per game.

Furthermore, he also grabbed 4.5 rebounds, while also averaging a steal per contest. But where Bridges saw the biggest offensive improvements was in his ball distribution, in which he averaged a career-high 3.6 assists, creating 9.4 points per game.

Defensively, though, Bridges is one of the best defensive wings in the entire NBA, where last season, he held his opponents to 46.5 percent shooting overall, 0.5 percent greater than their field goal percentage of 47.0 percent.

With his 7-foot wingspan on his 6-foot-6 frame, the 27-year-old held his opponents last season to 60.2 percent shooting when within six feet of the basket, down 2.2 percent from their season field goal average, while when 10 feet away, he used his size to even greater effect, holding his opponents to just 55.0 percent shooting, 3.3 percent lower than their 58.3 percent field goal average.

As such, with the addition of Bridges, the Knicks have now cemented themselves as a team with one of the deepest rosters in the league, and they will also boast some seriously strong chemistry with four players who won an NCAA National Championship together.

So, barring any injuries, they are expected to put in a very strong campaign next season, and be one of the teams who could stand in the way of the reigning champions, Boston Celtics .

All statistics courtesy of Statmuse, ESPN, NBA.com and Basketball Reference.