The New York Knicks pulled a major trade early Tuesday night — reportedly with eyes on trying to solve the Boston Celtics problem.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that the Knicks have acquired two-way wing Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a haul of draft picks. Bridges is a one-time All-Defensive Team selection and was Brooklyn’s leading scorer this past season.
Speaking to SportsCenter, Wojnarowski said that the Knicks went all-out to make an offer the Nets couldn’t refuse, acquiring Brooklyn’s best player in order to build a roster that’s better equipped to slow down the Celtics.
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“What the Knicks are doing is trying to load up on big-time two-way wing players to take on the NBA champion Boston Celtics in the East,” Wojnarowski said.” They get one with Mikhail Bridges and now they’ll try to re-sign OG Anunoby to bring back against the Celtics next year, a group that can certainly score and more importantly, guard that team.”
The deal for Bridges came at a steep price. Wojnarowski reports that the Knicks gave up forward Bojan Bogdanovic, a total of five first-round picks, a pick swap and a second-round pick. Four of those first-round picks are unprotected, as is the pick swap.
It’s a drastic move from a Knicks team that is in win-now mode with All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle. But winning in the East now requires going through a Celtics team that dominated the regular season and postseason thanks to their dynamic and versatile lineup.
The deal to acquire Bridges gives the Knicks a versatile wing that can help them match up better with the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, along with the rest of Boston’s dynamic lineup.
