The Brooklyn Nets are trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Knicks are sending Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks, a protected first-rounder via the Milwaukee Bucks, the right to swap future picks, and a second-round selection to the Nets, Wojnarowski reports.
Bridges, 27, averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and one steal while starting all 82 games for Brooklyn last season. He also shot 37.2% on 7.2 attempts from deep per contest.
The deal reunites Bridges with several of his former college teammates; in three seasons at Villanova from 2015-18, he played with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo. The quartet were all on the 2016 Wildcats squad that won the NCAA Tournament, and all but Hart were still at the school when Villanova won the national title again in 2018.
Bridges, who has two years left on the four-year, $90.9-million contract he signed in 2022, informed the Nets that he wanted to sign with the Knicks and was willing to use that as leverage to dissuade other teams from trading for him, sources told Ian Begley of SNY.
Meanwhile, despite acquiring a starting-caliber two-way wing in Bridges, the Knicks are still prioritizing re-signing free agent OG Anunoby, according to Begley. However, it’s reportedly unlikely that New York will be able to bring back center Isaiah Hartenstein.
It’s the first trade between the Nets and Knicks since 1983.
