Getty Mikal Bridges #1 of the Brooklyn Nets.
Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges found himself a new home after the Phoenix Suns traded him at the deadline to land All-Star Kevin Durant in a blockbuster deal. Despite being traded, Bridges has kept close relationships with his former Suns’ teammates. In his latest Instagram post, Bridges sent a thank you message to Suns star Chris Paul, who sent him a Brooklyn Nets football helmet, in an apparent attempt to throw shade at Milwaukee Bucks star and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo. Still, the Nets star was grateful for the gift.
“Good looks though, imma need it,” Bridges wrote on Instagram (H/T Overtime).
Chris Paul sent Mikal Bridges a helmet so he can protect himself from Giannis 🤣 @mikal_bridges @CP3
But despite being part of CP3’s trolling tactics, Bridges has shown a high level of respect for Antetokounmpo and sung his praises after the Nets played the Bucks on February 28.
“It’s tough to gameplan against him,” Bridges said of the Bucks star. “Everybody tries to gameplan him and the numbers he still put up, it’s tough. But I think we just got to be together as a team at all times. Because if he sees one lane, just a little opening, it’s tough to guard him. A guy like that, you got to be locked in at all times, all five guys.”
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Moses Brown Excited to Join Nets
Nets fans should be excited that the team is zeroing in on adding more size to their roster as they prepare for the playoffs. After parting ways with 6’11 big man Nerlens Noel they signed 7’2 center Moses Brown on a 10-day contract on March 17. He has yet to log any minutes for the Nets, but Brown is still excited to be representing his hometown team.
“I’ve been on a lot of teams all over the country, and it’s just cool to be home. Every time we would drive throughout Brooklyn, I would watch the Barclays Center’s progress every year. That was the new team. I remember, growing up, just liking the colors, the uniforms, everything,” Brown said of joining the Nets to the New York Post.
“Just be ready. That’s been the thing with my career, anyway: being able to defend the rim and play with high energy. This was pretty much the main [offer] and the situation seemed better than the other ones. I’m familiar with a lot of the guys on the coaching staff and even on the team.”
Cavs ‘Hoping’ for Playoff Matchup With Nets
Speaking of the postseason, if the season ended today, Brooklyn would play the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, setting up a rivalry matchup between Nets star Ben Simmons and the team that he demanded a trade from last season. But if the Nets somehow catch their crosstown rival New York Knicks, who they trail by two games for the fifth seed, it would set up a 4/5 matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers. A first-round matchup that Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com says the Cavs are secretly hoping for.
“No one inside the organization would say this publicly — and they shouldn’t. But multiple people I’ve spoken to recently are privately hoping for a Brooklyn matchup,” Fedor writes.
“It’s easy to understand why. Even though the Cavs, with home-court advantage, would likely be capable of competing — and possibly winning — a seven-game series against any of the teams currently behind them in the standings, the Nets would be Cleveland’s easiest path out of round one.”