Earlier this week, the New York Knicks traded for Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges, outlining their intent to compete with the Boston Celtics next season. The addition of the forward undoubtedly improves the team, but many have questioned whether he was worth the steep price they paid to land him. Among those is Draymond Green, who balked at what the Nets managed to get for Bridges.
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On The Draymond Green Show, the Golden State Warriors claimed he was astonished that the Knicks traded five first-round picks for the Nets forward. He said,
“I was shocked because when Mikal got traded to the Nets from Phoenix, everybody knew at some point they’d go into this rebuild that they just went into. Everybody was talking about what they’d trade for Mikal Bridges and you hear, ‘Four first-round picks, five first-round picks’ would be the cost of the trade. And then the Rudy Gobert trade happened… Initially, in the first year, it didn’t look like it was working… It kind of reset the market.”
Green noted that the Minnesota Timberwolves’ lack of success in their first season with Gobert had a domino effect on the Damian Lillard trade. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks for only one first-round pick, two pick swaps, and three players.
However, in Gobert’s second season, the Timberwolves made it to the Western Conference Finals, changing the consensus about the Gobert trade, and resetting the market. Green claimed that without Minnesota’s magical run in the 2023 playoffs, the Bridges trade wouldn’t have cost the Knicks five first-round picks.
While the veteran forward feels the cost to land the former Nets star was steep, he believes he fits perfectly on the Knicks roster. He explained,
“I think Mikal Bridges is one of the better wing players in our league… In Brooklyn, in his second year, he got caught with the ball in his hands too much. And I don’t think that’s where he’s at his best… Now he’ll be back at his normal position, where he’s catching and shooting, and catching and attacking the close outs. I think that suits him and allows him to play his best basketball.”
While Green is excited to see Bridges suit up for the Knicks, Skip Bayless isn’t too keen.
Skip Bayless is not a fan of the Knicks’ move for Mikal Bridges
On Undisputed, the veteran analyst rated the move two out of 10. Explaining why, he said,
“As much as I enjoyed watching the Knicks, rooting for the Knicks, they got great grit and fire, spunk and hustle and loose ball urgency, and all that good stuff. All those intangibles, I just don’t love the tangibles enough. I don’t love the supreme talent enough.”
According to Bayless, the Knicks gave up too much for Bridges. He claims that the players they gave up and the player they acquired don’t matchup in terms of skill, and suggests that the New York outfit may have overpaid for the Villanova wing. He goes on to claim that one acquisition isn’t going to make the Knicks contenders in the East, and that the Celtics still will rule supreme.
