In a shocking twist less than 24 hours before the 2024 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn Nets have traded rising star Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks in exchange for numerous draft picks and veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The Knicks are sending four unprotected first-round picks, a protected first-round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks, an unprotected first-round pick swap, and a second-round pick.
The Nets are set to receive four unprotected first-round picks from the Knicks in 2025, 2027, 2029, and 2031, as well as a 2025 first-round pick from the Bucks that is top-four protected. New York is also sending a 2028 unprotected pick swap and a 2025 second-round pick, along with Bogdanovic, to Brooklyn for Bridges.
In addition to this trade with the Knicks, the Nets are finalizing another trade that involves numerous draft assets with the Houston Rockets. This massive deal includes several picks that were initially traded away by Brooklyn when they acquired James Harden from Houston in 2021. Not only are the Nets sending the Phoenix Suns' 2027 first-round picks to the Rockets to get their own 2026 first-round pick back, but Houston also acquires the 2025 rights to swap their own or the Oklahoma City Thunder's 2025 first-round pick for the Suns' 2025 first-round pick via Brooklyn.
As part of this secondary trade involving draft picks with the Nets, Houston is relinquishing the rights to swap a Rockets/Thunder first-round pick for Brooklyn's 2025 first-round pick, allowing the Nets to retain their draft assets and enter a rebuild. The Rockets are also getting the more favorable of the Dallas Mavericks' and the Suns' 2029 first-round picks and acquire the right to swap their own first-round pick for the less favorable Dallas first and Phoenix first, according to Wojnarowski.
This is a stunning trade that the Nets, Knicks, and Rockets pulled off on the eve of the NBA Draft. Bridges, who the Nets had long remained adamant on keeping, now finds himself joining a Knicks team that should look familiar to him. Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, and Bridges are all reunited with one another after winning a national championship together in 2016 as members of the Villanova Wildcats.
The Knicks are hopeful that Bridges, who is a rising star in the NBA, will be the final piece to their championship equation after stepping into his own with the Nets. Since joining Brooklyn as part of the blockbuster Kevin Durant trade with the Suns, Bridges has played in a total of 109 games, averaging 19.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 37.2 percent from the floor. Bridges has not missed a single game in his NBA career.
If there is any player built for Tom Thibodeau's system with the Knicks, besides Hart, it is an ironman like Bridges. Now, the Knicks have added yet another weapon in their pursuit of reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
Implications of Nets, Rockets trade
Ever since the Nets gave up their hopes of contending for a championship with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden, they have been stuck as a very average team in the Eastern Conference. As good as Bridges has been, the Nets were unable to make the necessary moves to build around him, leading to Tuesday night's blockbuster trade that sends Bridges to the Knicks.
Nobody ever thought that the Knicks and Nets would come together to make a trade, but this is the only path that can correct some of the errors general manager Sean Marks and Brooklyn's front office had made. The main goal of trading Bridges ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft was to accumulate draft assets, specifically those given up to acquire the superstars of the past.
Not only have the Nets brought back picks they gave up to the Rockets when trading for Harden in 2022, but they have done so at the expense of the Suns' draft picks that were acquired in the Durant trade. Plus, Brooklyn adds four unprotected first-round picks, a 2025 first-round pick that will more than likely convey, and a future pick swap to add to their rebuilt draft capital arsenal.
The rebuild has begun in Brooklyn, as the Nets target youthful options to lead them into the future, starting with the 2025 NBA Draft next year.
The script is the opposite for the Rockets, as they are looking to make significant moves right now. After coming up just short of reaching the Western Conference play-in tournament during the 2024-25 season, the Rockets are the most aggressive team in the NBA, pursuing an All-Star talent this offseason. In fact, the player at the top of their wish list is Suns All-Star Kevin Durant, according to Wojnarowski. However, Phoenix has no intentions of moving on from Durant at this juncture.
In their immediate pursuit of star-level talent, the Rockets may end up turning their attention to Los Angeles Clippers All-Star Paul George or New Orleans Pelicans star wing Brandon Ingram. These are the two most prominent names coming up in trade rumors leading into the 2024 NBA Draft on Wednesday night.
The Rockets own the Suns' 2027 first-round pick and could also end up with Phoenix's 2029 pick. The Suns' 2025 pick swap is also in the hands of the Rockets. Durant is going to be on the Rockets' radar, as will Devin Booker, should the Suns look to end their new Big 3 era prematurely while retaining their lost assets.
Houston, who did not sacrifice any value in this trade by giving the Nets their draft picks back, now has various Suns draft picks at their disposal to not only offer Phoenix in discussions for Durant and Booker, but other teams around the league for their All-Star talents. For now, the Rockets enter this year's draft eager to make more moves for immediate improvement.
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