ESPN.com: Sources: Knicks to acquire Mikal Bridges from Nets

New York Knicks grade: B

The Nova Knicks are complete and reuniting in pursuit of adding an NBA championship to the NCAA title they won in 2016 with Bridges, Brunson, DiVincenzo and Hart all on the roster. (Bonus points if New York manages to bring back a fifth member of that team in Tom Thibodeau favorite Ryan Arcidiacono, who spent much of 2023-24 on the Knicks’ roster before being traded in the deal to acquire Bogdanovic at the deadline.)

Adding Bridges gives New York unparalleled wing depth, so long as the team can re-sign forward OG Anunoby as an unrestricted free agent after he declined his $19.9 million player option Tuesday, per multiple reports. In Anunoby and Bridges, the Knicks will have two of the league’s most versatile perimeter defenders paired with DiVincenzo and Hart, both of whom might end up coming off the bench when Julius Randle returns — barring an additional move involving Randle.

Much like the reigning champion Boston Celtics, New York will have multiple strong individual defenders to contain star-laden teams. Both teams are also similarly balanced on offense. Bridges should benefit from having more scoring around him after chafing under the strain of a key offensive role in Brooklyn.

Bridges thrived in that spot after being dealt to the Nets as part of the return for Durant at the 2023 trade deadline, averaging 26.1 points per game on above-average efficiency (.607 true shooting percentage) the rest of the season. He couldn’t maintain that pace last season, averaging 21.7 PPG on .573 true shooting before the All-Star break and sliding all the way to 15.6 PPG on .529 true shooting thereafter, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Bridges’ scoring will take some of the pressure off Brunson, who saw his usage skyrocket to 38% after the break with Randle sidelined. Brunson handled it well, but did see a slight dip in efficiency as the focal point of defenses. With so many other shooters and ball handlers on the court, teams will have to think twice about trapping Brunson so aggressively.

Down the road, adding another scoring threat could make it easier for the Knicks to move on from Randle, instead opting for a player who better fits their vision of spacing the floor for Brunson and playing defense.

For now, New York has plenty of additional business to handle this summer. Besides Anunoby, starting center Isaiah Hartenstein is also an unrestricted free agent. Just how much flexibility the Knicks have to re-sign both players will depend in part on how this trade is structured. If New York takes back even one dollar more in salary, that would trigger a hard cap at the lower luxury-tax apron.

The Knicks could sidestep that restriction by adding additional players to the deal to send out more salary than they take back with Bridges. Adding players would still hard cap New York at the second apron, but that’s nearly $11 million higher than the first apron. If this deal is strictly Bogdanovic for Bridges, the Knicks would be limited to about $33.5 million in first-year salary for Anunoby and Hartenstein while staying below the first apron. (Trading a player under contract, like center Mitchell Robinson, would create additional cap space for New York.)

Hard-cap restrictions could help explain why the Bridges trade makes it less likely for Hartenstein to return — as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski — although that may simply be a function of the potential for the Knicks’ payroll to explode in future years when Bridges and Brunson sign new contracts.

Like Brunson, Bridges will command a sizeable raise from his current contract, which pays just $23.3 million in 2024-25 and $24.9 million in 2025-26. That deal was signed when Bridges was a low-usage role player with the Phoenix Suns and now substantially undervalues his contributions, which, along with unparalleled durability, is why he was so in demand in the trade market.

Consider that New York will pay Bridges and Brunson a combined $48.3 million in 2024-25, less than Suns guard Bradley Beal ($50.2 million) will earn by himself. It’s those bargain salaries that enable the Knicks to maintain one of the league’s deepest top-seven rotations after this trade. And the Villanova ties for Bridges and Brunson figure to help New York’s chances of signing both players to extensions rather than having them wait on the potential of making more money in free agency.

The main cost of acquiring Bridges was a bounty of draft picks. New York can no longer trade any of its own draft picks after making the No. 24 and No. 25 picks in Wednesday night’s first round, though the Knicks did hang on to protected picks they’re owed by the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards as lower-value trade chips.

By going all-in for Bridges, New York has foregone the possibility of bidding for a bigger star, such as Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, should one ever become available down the road. It seems likely Brunson’s emergence as a top-five finisher in MVP voting changed the Knicks’ thinking on waiting for the best player available in trade.

Not only does Brunson’s development mean New York has less need for a primary shot creator, it also produces urgency for the Knicks to win now while Brunson (who turns 28 in August) is in his prime and not being paid like the star he is. Time will tell whether adding Bridges can allow New York to legitimately challenge Boston in the Eastern Conference. It certainly suggests the Celtics’ path back to the Finals will be far more challenging next spring.