Getty Brooklyn Nets player Mikal Bridges.
After the New York Knicks‘ failed Donovan Mitchell pursuit in the summer of 2022, beating Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge in the Mikal Bridges sweepstakes made their coup even sweeter.
Tony Jones of The Athletic revealed the Jazz pursued Bridges before the Brooklyn Nets ultimately sent their star across the borough to the Knicks.
“A couple of days before the draft, [the Jazz] were really in Mikal Bridges,” Jones said on Sactown Sports 1140 on July 3. “If they have gotten Bridges, they believe that there was something in free agency for them to do that would have been substantial.”
Ainge, nicknamed “Trader Danny” for his history of fleecing teams in trades, had the deeper draft capital to beat the Knicks for Bridges.
They have all their own picks, plus three picks each from Cleveland (Mitchell trade) and Minnesota (Rudy Gobert trade) to overwhelm the Nets.
However, Bridges specifically told the Nets he wanted to go to the Knicks, per SNY’s Ian Begley, which basically took the Jazz out of the equation.
“Nets surely didn’t want to trade Mikal Bridges to [Knicks] but Bridges’ side was prepared to force the issue by telling teams he wanted to be with Knicks, per SNY sources. Bridges’ side made it clear to Brooklyn that he wanted to be with the Knicks, reunite with Villanova teammates [Jalen] Brunson, [Josh] Hart and [Donte] DiVincenzo,” Begley wrote on X on June 25.
Nets surely didn’t want to trade Mikal Bridges to NYK but Bridges’ side was prepared to force the issue by telling teams he wanted to be w/NYK, per SNY sources. Bridges’ side made it clear to BKN that he wanted to be w/NYK, reunite w/Villanova teammates Brunson, Hart, DiVincenzo
Knicks Expand Mikal Bridges Trade for Flexibility
The Knicks expanded the Bridges trade, creating flexibility to sign a replacement for Isaiah Hartenstein.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania first reported the news of the Knicks signing and trading Shake Milton as the additional salary in the trade. Milton’s addition kept the Knicks from getting hard-capped at the first apron.
The final details of the trade:
Knicks received: Mikal Bridges, Keita Bates-Diop
Nets received: Bojan Bogdanovic, Shake Milton, Mamadi Diakite, 4 unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031), a protected 2025 first-round pick (via Milwaukee Bucks), an unprotected 2028 pick swap and 2025 second-round pick
The Knicks are now $16.9 million below the $188.9 million second apron with 11 players, according to salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan.
“They have enough flexibility to re-sign Precious Achiuwa and use the $5.2 million taxpayer mid-level exception,” Gozlan wrote on X.
The Knicks could fill the void of Hartenstein by re-signing Achiuwa.
Their former center left for Oklahoma City Thunder to a three-year, $87 million free agency deal.
Brock Aller’s Cap Wizardry in Full Display in Mikal Bridges Trade
Brock Aller’s imprint was all over the Bridges trade.
Aller, the Knicks’ capologist whose official title is vice president of basketball and strategic planning, stacked their late-season signings to make the math work.
According to Charania, the Knicks will sign Milton to a three-year, $9 million contract, with over minimum in year one and two non-guaranteed years.
With stacking of minimum contracts not allowed in a trade under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Knicks will guarantee $1.23 million of Diakite’s $2.3 million contract, according to ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks.
The Knicks picked up Milton and Diakite late last season but never cracked their playoff rotation.