Knicks Going All In After Mikal Bridges Trade

The New York Knicks are pushing all of their chips in and doubling down on a Jalen Brunson-led squad to take them to the promised land.

The Knicks hope that the final piece to the puzzle is Mikal Bridges, who the team acquired after trading a boat load of first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets, leaving them with very few assets to deal in future transactions if they wanted to make any.

Bleacher Report writer Dan Favale believes that this trade should keep the Knicks in the contender conversation for the next three years, giving them the No. 8 slot in a power ranking of three-year outlooks.

“Make no mistake, the Knicks are immediately in contention for biggest-Eastern-Conference-threat-to-Boston honors. But their path to continued improvement from here is more challenging without any blue-chip prospects or tantalizing trade assets left in the tank,” Favale writes.

The only teams to rank ahead of the Knicks were the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Knicks might be the team best-equipped to challenge the Celtics for the top spot in the Eastern Conference this year, but until 2027, New York might not be in the best position compared to other teams.

The organization is placing its faith in Brunson hoping that the ‘Nova Knicks will be capable of winning a title just like they did twice in college in 2016 and 2018.

The only other way the Knicks could make a drastic change to the roster is by trading Julius Randle, who is only under contract until the end of the 2024-25 season. The Knicks want to keep Randle, but if they cannot come to an agreement on a deal, New York may look elsewhere to try and build a contender.

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