The Villanova Knicks appear to be coming to Madison Square Garden.
New York on Tuesday acquired star forward Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported, citing sources.
The Knicks reportedly will send Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029, 2031), a 2025 protected Milwaukee Bucks first-rounder, a 2028 unprotected pick swap and a 2025 second-round pick.
Along with Bridges, Brooklyn reportedly will receive a 2026 second-rounder.
Bridges, the No. 10 overall pick in 2018 out of Villanova, is coming off a season in which he averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals on a 44/37/81 shooting split.
Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo are also former Villanova products now a Knick. Brunson reacted to the news on X, with Hart having an NSFW reaction of his own.
Bridges, who won the 2016 NCAA title with Brunson, DiVincenzo and Hart, also posted to X.
The 27-year-old Bridges was one of the best 3-and-D forwards seemingly available on the trade block after Brooklyn went 32-50 on the season, good for 11th in the Eastern Conference.
New York, on the other hand, finished 50-32 and claimed the conference’s No. 2 seed, but fell to the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the playoffs following a spree of injuries to key players.
Acquiring Bridges could put OG Anunoby’s future as a Knick in question, but the franchise still has hopes of re-signing him in free agency, Wojnarowski added.
If the Knicks’ plan comes to fruition, they’ll have a core of Brunson, Bridges, Anunoby, Hart, DiVincenzo, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson that would challenge the Boston Celtics for the throne.
Alec Burks, Isaiah Hartenstein and Precious Achiuwa are among New York’s other key free agents.
For the Nets, they don’t have draft picks in 2024, with Nic Claxton and Lonnie Walker IV among their free agents. Cam Thomas, Ben Simmons, Dennis Schroder, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith are the current headliners on the roster.
