On the eve of the NBA Draft, the Knicks and Nets made their first trade with each other since 1983, and it happened in dramatic fashion, as New York agreed in principle to acquire Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn for Bojan Bogdanovic, five first-round draft picks, a first-round pick swap and a second-round selection, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday.
Brooklyn will receive unprotected New York picks in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031, as well as an unprotected pick swap with New York in 2028. Brooklyn will also receive a top-four protected 2025 first-round pick, as well as a 2025 second-rounder, via the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Knicks will acquire a second-round pick in 2026 from the Nets to complete the deal.
Bridges, 27, has never missed a game in his NBA career, and he averaged 19.6 points for Brooklyn last season. He is considered one of the best 3-and-D players in the league.
It is the fifth deal between the two New York franchises since the Nets entered the NBA in 1976 – and the first since the Nets traded Len Elmore to the Knicks for a 1984 second-round pick (used on Tom Sluby) on June 22, 1983.
Nearly 41 years later, a major trade took place between the two teams that would have huge ramifications for both franchises going forward.
With the Knicks, Bridges reunites with former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo, who led the Wildcats to the 2016 national championship. Brunson, Bridges and DiVincenzo won a second title together two years later.
Now, he will look to help end a 52-year championship drought next spring for the Knicks, who won playoff series in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 24 years after beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4-2 in the first round last spring before losing in seven games to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Sources told Wojnarowski that New York is focused on attempting to re-sign forward OG Anunoby, whom they acquired from the Toronto Raptors at midseason and who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Knicks also hope to re-sign center Isaiah Hartenstein, but they can only pay him a limited amount due to his Early Bird rights — meaning, he could sign a four-year, $72.5 million deal with the team.
By adding Bridges and Anunoby in consecutive deals, New York has equipped itself with as much length, versatility and perimeter shooting as possible to compete with the champion Boston Celtics for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Bridges has played in 474 consecutive games early in his career, the longest streak in the NBA over the past 40 seasons. He is one of four players with 1,500 points, 150 3-pointers and 75 steals over the past two seasons, joining Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum.
Bridges is due to be paid $23.3 million and $24.9 million over the final two years of his current contract. He is eligible to sign a two-year extension on Oct. 1 and can extend for an additional three years and $113 million in six months.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, has firmly picked a direction, not only by moving on from Bridges but also by sending Bridges along with the multiple first-round pick rights acquired from the Phoenix Suns in the Kevin Durant blockbuster trade in February 2022.
Now, Brooklyn has control of the 2025 and 2026 drafts — both drafts are considered very strong, featuring high-level prospects including Cooper Flagg in 2025 and Cameron Boozer, son of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, in 2026.
Bogdanovic, 35, averaged 15.2 points last season between the Knicks and the Detroit Pistons. The Nets drafted him in 2011, and he played the first 2½ years of his career with them.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information and ESPN’s Bobby Marks was used in this report.
