Mikal Bridges reacts to Nets-Knicks trade finally becoming official
07/07/2024 01:58 PM
Recently, the New York Knicks sent shockwaves throughout the NBA when it was announced that they would be trading for Brooklyn Nets guard/forward Mikal Bridges for a hefty price that included the equivalent of five (!!!) future first round picks. While it was a lot to give up for a player who has never made an All-Star team, the Knicks are apparently pouring all of their chips to the center of the table, and in doing so teamed Bridges up with a few of his former Villanova college teammates in Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo.
There have been rumblings of a potential Bridges to the Knicks trade for quite some time now considering the Villanova connection as well as the fact that the Knicks were clearly a few pieces of way from truly competing in the Eastern Conference, and now that the trade has actually come to fruition, it seems that no one is happier about it than Bridges himself.
First, Bridges took to his account on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter, to respond to the Knicks’ welcome post for him, simply writing “Thank you” with orange and blue hearts. Then, it was unearthed that the former Phoenix Suns star had changed his profile picture on the platform to a flick of himself and Brunson at what appeared to be a Team USA scrimmage, per Erik Slater of ClutchPoints.
Needless to say, it seems that Bridges is more than happy about moving across the bridge to Manhattan to join a Knicks squad that has a lot of potential to do some real damage.
What is the Knicks’ ceiling?
While the Boston Celtics would still figure to be a healthy tier above the rest of the Eastern Conference, there’s no reason why the 76ers couldn’t be entrenched in the same tier as teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and, to a lesser extent, the Milwaukee Bucks on a level just below the reigning NBA champions.
Similarly to the Celtics, the Knicks’ starting lineup now features multiple two-way wings who can defend at a high level, knock down threes, and put the ball on the floor. It remains to be seen how the isolation-happy Julius Randle will fit into the mix, and how Brunson will respond to be asked to do less in an offense where he will now have more firepower alongside him.
At this point, the true differentiator between the Celtics and Knicks is at the center position. While Mitchell Robinson is a better defender than Kristaps Porzingis, the Latvian big man can still protect the rim at a high level and is also exponentially better than Robinson at the other end of the floor, meaning that the Celtics still overall have the edge for now, as well as the valuable pedigree that comes with winning a championship.
However, if the Knicks are able to stay healthy (which is a big if), the upcoming 2024-25 season has a legitimate chance to be their most successful in quite a long time.
The post Mikal Bridges reacts to Nets-Knicks trade finally becoming official appeared first on ClutchPoints.
