Getty Brooklyn Nets player Mikal Bridges.
The New York Knicks might have to include the NBA’s best contract in the Mikal Bridges trade to avoid getting hard-capped at the first apron, according to SNY’s Ian Begley.
“They can do so by trading Miles McBride ($4.7 million salary for 2024-25) or signing and trading either Alec Burks or Precious Achiuwa, per Yossi Gozlan (who is a great resource for salary cap details),” Begley wrote on June 28.
Knicks forward Josh Hart named McBride’s three-year, $13 million extension as the “best contract” in the NBA during the May 31 episode of the “Roommates Show” he co-hosted with Jalen Brunson.
If the Knicks include McBride or sign-and-trade either Achiuwa or Burks would help the Knicks open up the necessary cap room to re-sign their free-agent center Isaiah Hartenstein to his early Bird rights maximum contact, $72.5 million over four years.
“They would then be capped at the second apron. So their team salary could not exceed $182.7 million,” Begley wrote.
The Knicks, however, are reluctant to send McBride to the Brooklyn Nets, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic.
“The team discussed the possibility of including Miles McBride in the Bridges trade, according to league sources — and not because they are itching to trade away a 23-year-old fireball on a minuscule contract, only $13 million over the next three seasons. It’s math. If they wanted to, the Knicks could find a third team to route McBride to, acquire a future first-round pick in the process and avoid the first-apron hard cap. His salary plus Bogdanović’s would just barely top Bridges’. But they have since shied away from that scenario, a league source said,” Katz wrote on June 27.
Miles McBride Undergoes Toe Surgery
The Knicks announced on June 27 that McBride underwent a procedure on his right pinky toe.
The incoming fourth-year guard is expected to be ready by training camp.
McBride is coming off his breakout season in the NBA after the Knicks traded Immanuel Quickley as part of the OG Anunoby deal with Toronto in December.
Since the departure of Quickley, McBride assumed the backup point guard duties and averaged a career-high 10.7 points, 2.1 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game while shooting 40% from the 3-point range.
Knicks Likely to Lose Isaiah Hartenstein in Free Agency
The euphoria of the Bridges acquisition quickly turned into anxiety for Knicks fans when Begley reported that Hartenstein “is unlikely to return.”
“Hartenstein is expected to be a top target for several opposing teams in free agency. With the offers that Hartenstein is expected to command on the open market, it’s become increasingly unlikely that [the Knicks] will be able to retain Hartenstein, per SNY sources,” Begley wrote on X shortly after the Bridges trade was reported June 25 by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski shared a similar sentiment.
“The Knicks are still determined to keep OG Anunoby in free agency, sources tell ESPN, but the ability to resign center Isaiah Hartenstein becomes more difficult now. The Knicks are loading up on wings to match up with the NBA champion Boston Celtics,” Wojnarowski tweeted.
Anunoby re-signed with the Knicks for a $212.5 million deal over five years, per ESPN.