Sixers Column: Fiasco for Philly after Mikal Bridges goes to Knicks

The tragic comedy that is the Sixers of the late 20-teens and early 2020s just took one of its darkest and most inventive turns yet.

Six years after the Sixers drafted Mikal Bridges, six years and t-plus 15 minutes after they traded him, five years after he emerged as the kind of three-and-D player that might have helped them win a seven-game series playoff against the Toronto Raptors, three years after he indisputably would have made a decisive difference against the Atlanta Hawks, one year after the Sixers found themselves missing such a player against the Boston Celtics, two months after they walked away from a series against the New York Knicks swearing that they would do their darndest to acquire such a player, the Sixers watched as Bridges indeed switched teams in a stunning, balance-of-power-altering trade …

… to the Knicks.

Big, big, big, big, big.

Big haul by the Brooklyn Nets.

Big overpay by the Knicks.

Big trouble for the Sixers.

Bridges, who emerged this offseason as one of the favorite potential trade targets of the helpless dreamers among the Sixers fan base, instead will take his talents to a Knicks rotation that is a mere one Kris Jenkins shy of a third Villanova national title. The Nets dealt the 28-year-old wing to New York on Tuesday night, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who is reporting a massive return package of five first round picks, an unprotected pick swap, and a second-round pick. No offense to Bojan Bogadanovic — he was included, too. It is a borderline ridiculous deal, perhaps unprecedented for a player who is not a consensus centerpiece star. It is also a borderline no-brainer, particularly when you consider the other edge of the sword: the one that cuts one of the Knicks biggest competitors further down to size.

Whatever you think of the wisdom of the move, or the worthiness of the hilariously high price the Knicks were willing to pay, you cannot argue it anything other than a disaster for the Sixers. Forget about the optics. Forget about the insult now added to the waves of regret that have bombarded Josh Harris and his front office in the years that followed their ill-fated decision to trade a heartbroken Bridges to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first-round pick. No doubt, they are impossible to ignore. But what matters more, from a practical standpoint, is what this trade means from a strictly competitive standpoint.

The Sixers are behind. They are way behind. They will remain way behind for however long it takes Daryl Morey to turn his draft picks and cap space and pixie dust into an actual rabbit from a hat. That rabbit needs to be able to catch-and-shoot and get to the bucket from the wing and play the kind of defense it will take to hang with the teams way out front. There are very few such rabbits, and the Sixers have yet to indicate a viable plan that does not read like fantasy.

Bridges probably isn’t the superstar that his price tag suggests, but he would have been an impressive and impactful third option alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, and he will surely be a viable second or third option on a Knicks team that beat the Sixers in six without him. Over the last two years, the former Villanova star has averaged 21.2 points while shooting 37.6% from three-point range as the primary scoring option since joining the Nets, adding an impressive uptick in offensive volume to go with his solid efficiency and standout defense.

What does it do for the Knicks? It makes them more like the Knicks. Bridges is the perfect player in that regard. Couple him with the return of O.G. Anunoby — who is still in line for a contract extension that will keep him in New York long term — and New York will surround Jalen Brunson with two of the NBA’s top two-way wings, plus Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart. Four former Villanova starters, all of them still doing the things they did on the Main Line, except in the Eastern Conference, where the Sixers sit and wonder what life would be like if they had just one of them.

Really, what this does for the Knicks is far less projectable than what it will do to the Sixers if they emerge from this offseason without a player who significantly moves the needle away from hope and toward legitimate NBA Finals contender. Sixers fans are frustrated, and understandably so. Six years after they traded away Bridges for future assets that might facilitate the acquisition of a tide-turning superstar, they are no closer to a title than they were back then. Meanwhile, the Knicks have surpassed them. They have reloaded, rebuilt, and are now making the same moves that the Sixers have continually tripped over themselves attempting to make.

Bridges? To the Knicks? You couldn’t write it any worse.

David Murphy writes for the Philadelphia Inquirer