ALL IN TRADE: Knicks Have Officially Put All Availabe Resources To Secure The Signing Of 4-Time NBA Champion In CLUB Record Signing

After coming close to reaching the NBA Eastern Conference finals despite an injury-plagued squad, the New York Knicks went all-in this offseason, trading for Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges to reunite him with his Villanova colleagues.

Bridges has reunited with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo. They were national champions at Villanova in 2016 and won again in 2018, absent Hart, who moved to the NBA a year earlier.

While the Knicks’ front management believes the Bridges trade and re-signing of OG Anunoby have brought them closer to a title, TNT’s “Inside the NBA” analyst Shaquille O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion, disagrees.

“Do you know what it is?” New York is a place that thrives on hype. “That controls the hype,” O’Neal said on “The Big Podcast” on July 27th. “They can hype everyone else up. They didn’t win [crap], but ‘Oohh, New York, New York.’ So, [Brunson] can play. I was mistaken about him. He is outstanding. They’re not close to winning a championship, however. They’ll win some games and accomplish this, but I’m more pleased by how many championships you’ll have at the end of your career.
Last season, the Knicks finished as the East’s second seed, winning 50 games for the first time since 2013. They accomplished this despite losing two-time NBA All-Star Julius Randle (shoulder) in late January and missing Mitchell Robinson (ankle) for 50 games. Anunoby was also in and out of the Knicks lineup because of an elbow issue.

The Knicks, led by Brunson, Hart, and DiVincenzo, defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round and led 2-1 and 3-2 against the Indiana Pacers in the second round before losing steam due to additional injuries.

All-in Trade for Mikal Bridges.
The Knicks went all in to complete their Villanova foursome, overpaying for Bridges, who has never been an All-Star. However, he was an All-NBA Defensive First Team member in 2022 and a key component of the Phoenix Suns’ 2021 NBA Finals team.\

To acquire Bridges, New York traded four unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029, and 2031), a protected 2025 first-round pick (via Milwaukee Bucks), an unprotected 2028 pick swap, and a 2025 second-round pick. Bridges is coming off a down year in Brooklyn in his first full season with the Nets since joining in the Kevin Durant trade.

In 82 games, Bridges averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.0 steals, shooting 43.6% from the field and 37.2% from three.

The Mikal Bridges trade was voted the offseason’s most surprising move.
An ESPN poll of league executives and scouts ranked the Bridges deal as the most unexpected move of the offseason, with five votes.

“It was an incredible deal for both sides,” said a West scout to ESPN.

This was the Knicks’ and Nets’ first trade since 1983. While this contributed to the Knicks having to overpay for Bridges, the Utah Jazz, who have more draft capital than the Knicks, were also avidly pursuing the former Nets star ahead of the NBA Draft, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic.

In the same ESPN survey, the Knicks garnered two votes for the Bridges trade as the worst move of the summer, trailing only the 76ers’ offer of a max contract to 34-year-old Paul George and the Chicago Bulls-Sacramento Kings’ DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade, both of which received three votes.

Did the Knicks make the right move?

Only time will tell.