Why the Mikal Bridges Trade is a Win for the Nets (2024)

The night before the 2024 NBA Draft kicked off, the two NBA teams that call New York home traded with each other for the first time in over four decades. The Brooklyn Nets traded Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks in exchange for a boatload of first round picks, a trade that greatly boosted both parties.

The trade was a blockbuster that sent rifts across the NBA landscape. Bridges is a perfect fit for the Knicks’ dynamic, and combined with OG Anunoby, whom they signed to a max extension the very next day, the Knicks are poised to be a contender for years to come.

The team across the river, the Nets, are in the opposite boat. They are a rebuilding squad recovering from the wrath of the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era, in which the team went all in and lost. But even though the Nets will not be a competitor for the next several seasons, the trade was still a win for the Nets in multiple ways.

Building Bridges

Bridges was acquired as a result of the failed Durant-Irving era

The Bridges trade was a win for the Nets simply because they regained control of their future. In the mid-to-late 2010s, the Nets were in possession of young talent and draft picks, building towards the future. In 2019, Sean Marks and company went all in when Durant and Irving teamed up in Brooklyn, giving up the majority of those picks to the Houston Rockets for James Harden.

Harden was viewed as the final piece necessary to get over the hump, and he would have been if the trio was able to stay on the court all at once. That barely happened, however, and the Nets peaked in 2021 when they lost in Game 7 of the second round to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks.

When it became clear that the Nets were no longer going to be competitive with Durant and Irving on the team, and a new direction was needed, they shipped them off. Specifically, Durant was traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Bridges, and that is how Bridges entered the Nets’ picture.

Bridges was a great player for the Nets, but his gameplay and style did not necessarily fit into the Nets’ construction at the time. Bridges is better suited for a lineup filled with other talent which he can feed off of and play off of, such as with the Knicks.

As he was the main man in Brooklyn, a lot of the responsibilities fell on his shoulders and he lacked the proper pieces around him to lift the Nets into a competitive place, rendering them a bottom-feeder.

Regaining Control

Nets regained control of their future with the Bridges trade

As a result of the Nets’ roster construction around Bridges, he failed to elevate the team to competition. The Nets now possessed a disgruntled star and no draft picks within the next several years as a result of the James Harden trade. The future was looking bleak, and they needed to get what they could out of their one piece who could garner a return.

That piece was Bridges. The Nets officially shipped Bridges to the Knicks in exchange for a haul of picks: two of their own picks from Houston which were lost in the James Harden deal, five first-round picks from the Knicks, and an unprotected pick swap.

The one caveat to the picks that the Nets received in return is that they are late first-round picks, mostly in the twenties range. Additionally, they are reserved for the next several years, meaning that if the Nets hit on the picks, they may be competitive by 2026 or 2027 at the earliest, and 2030 or 2031 at the latest. That is a long way away.

But what matters for Brooklyn is that they regained control of their future. They had previously lost all of their controllable picks, and controllable picks are now what they have received in return. That will allow them to see light at the end of the rebuilding tunnel which they officially entered when they traded off Durant and Irving at last year’s Trade Deadline.

Veteran Presence

Nets also acquired Bojan Bogdanović in the trade

The Nets did not only get draft picks back in the deal — they also received Bojan Bogdanović in the trade. The Croatian veteran could provide adequate three-point shooting and guide Brooklyn’s youngsters to the future, should they choose to hold onto him. He could also be trade bait should they decide to flip him, providing re-trade value for the Nets.

It is likely that Bogdanović will be ready to play by the start of the season, as he is coming off of season-ending surgeries to his foot and wrist, injuries that he suffered with the Knicks this past season. If the Nets wish to avoid any questions, they can flip him for another piece or potentially even a late draft pick, whichever they find more value in.

Bogdanović also serves as the salary match for Bridges, as Bridges was on a rookie-level deal from the Suns, an extremely team-friendly deal. The Nets recently inked Nic Claxton to a four-year, $100 million deal, so they have made it clear that he will be the centerpiece they build around in what will presumably be a long and tough rebuilding process.

In fine, the Nets turned a player who has yet to make an All-Star appearance into five controllable draft picks and plenty of capital. They now control their own picks in five of the next seven drafts, from 2025 to 2031, and if they hit on at least some of those picks, the future will be bright for Brooklyn.