Kiwi executive pulls off ‘crazy’ NBA trade

Mikal Bridges is being traded by the Brooklyn Nets to the New York Knicks, where he will join all star Jalen Brunson on a powerful roster with NBA championship ambitions.

The blockbuster first trade between the New York rivals since 1983 will put Bridges alongside Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo, players who helped the Villanova Wildcats win two USA college championships and were the core of a Knicks lineup that reached the Eastern Conference semi-finals last season.

The Knicks will pay big to get him, sending Bojan Bogdanovic to the Nets along with an extraordinary five first round draft picks – of which four are unprotected.

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It gives Brooklyn’s Kiwi general manager Sean Marks enormous firepower ahead of Thursday’s (AEST) draft and beyond – with 15 first round picks over the next seven years.

“They have a clear direction now and they are loaded going forward with draft assets,” Adrian Wojnarowski said on ESPN.

There could also be major implications for Brooklyn’s resident Australian Ben Simmons.

The Nets acquired Bridges from the Phoenix Suns in the deal for Kevin Durant in 2023 and he went on to average 26.1 points the rest of that season in helping Brooklyn reach the playoffs.

Wojnarowski added that the Houston Rockets now want to trade for Durant “and that becomes far easier if they can return the Suns picks that they gave up in the Durant deal to the Nets. Suns have said they’re keeping Durant for now, but that could change next season. Houston has the picks to make the Suns whole again.”

Bridges scored 19.6 points per game in 2023-24 but the Nets slipped to 32-50 and missed the postseason.

And while his team was struggling, he couldn’t help but notice how much fun his friends were having just a few miles away.

The Nets signed Brunson in 2022, traded for Hart in the 2022-23 season and then signed DiVincenzo last summer, and the Knicks have reached the second round in both seasons.

The four players helped Villanova win the 2016 NCAA title and Brunson, Bridges and DiVincenzo were still there when the Wildcats won again in 2018.

They clearly can’t wait to get the band back together.

“This is crazy lol,” Bridges wrote on Twitter after the deal was reported.

Hart posted a picture of what appeared to be the four players smiling during a group video call.

This trade gives Brooklyn more picks to build through the draft or package in further trades.

The Knicks had picks to move and have been looking to strengthen a team that has been on the rise.

They were a game away from their first appearance in the Eastern Conference finals since 2000 last season despite losing a number of key players to injuries before and during the postseason.

Their new addition, on the other hand, doesn’t get hurt.

Bridges was the runner up for defensive player of the year in 2022 and is currently the NBA’s most durable player, which should quickly make him a favorite of Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.

He has played in all 474 games in his career – and never missed a game in college, either – and led the league in minutes played in both 2021-22 and 2022-23.