After the Celtics won the championship, NBA teams officially entered the offseason and began to prepare for a series of reinforcements for the new season. This year's draft conference will soon start, but compared to last year, this year's draft conference is undoubtedly a lot more deserted, last year not only Wembanyama, but also a group of talented potential stars worth paying attention to, and this year is a draft year, there are few young people who can be named, and the popularity of the champion is not high. The only thing worth paying attention to is to see if Choi Yong-hee has a chance to be selected, and whether James' son Bronny will come to the Lakers and fight alongside James. Regarding Bronny, from the perspective of personal attributes, he is positioned as a point guard version of a 3D player, but his personal ability is not outstanding, and the data in college is also very bleak, I don't know if his traffic will be favored by some teams.
Since the draft is not very concerned, more traffic in the league is still concentrated in the trade market and free market. So far in the offseason, some blockbuster news from the league has been born, such as the Lakers signing Redick as the new head coach, Barnes renewing his contract with the Raptors with a 5-year 270 million super cap salary, and the Chicago Bulls and Thunder completing the 1-for-1 trade of Caruso and Giddey. Now, the league's second trade is here, and according to ESPN, the Nets traded Bridges to the Knicks in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick through the Bucks, a pick swap and a second-rounder, which equates to an 8-for-1 deal. Bridges is averaging 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1 steal in 34.8 minutes per game for the Nets this season.
According to Knicks reporter Ian Begley, Bridges told the Nets that he wanted to be a Knicks player, so the deal was done quickly. So far, the Knicks have gathered the Villanova University four-man group, namely Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and Bridges, and directly played alumni basketball, and the whole team is brothers. I have to say that the Knicks' ambitions are really big, this season, Bridges played an average of 34.8 minutes per game for the Nets, and could get 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1 steal, the data is good, but he is at most a quasi-All-Star level player, but the Knicks are willing to pay Bogdanovic + 5 first-round picks + 1 draft swap + 1 second-round, such a huge chip as a trade price. This deal can be compared to Gobert's 1-for-9 back then.
The reason why the Knicks did this is not difficult to analyze. First of all, their draft pick resources are abundant in their own right, and the first-round picks sent away in this trade are low and not that valuable. Secondly, although Bridges is not a cornerstone superstar of the team, he is particularly popular in the league market as a championship puzzle piece of a team, with scarce 3D attributes and excellent defensive ability. In the end, Bridges is very physical and has not been affected by injuries in his career, which is in line with the manager Thibodeau's employment philosophy, and he likes to use this kind of "iron man" player. In this way, the Knicks also have their veritable super triumvirate, Bridges + Brunson + Randle, although the three of them don't seem to have a high coffee position, but their combat power may not be worse than those old-school Big Three.
Prior to the deal, the Knicks were earlier mulling a trade for Paul George, with rumors that the Clippers and Knicks were negotiating a bargaining chip, with the Knicks trading Bogdanovic + Randle for George. However, Bogdan has now been traded, and the Knicks have Bridges again, and they may not pursue Paul George in the future. This season, the Knicks were able to break into the second round of the playoffs with injuries and lack of major generals, and they were able to rush to the second place in the East at the end of the regular season, which is already very powerful, and their real strength is definitely underestimated, especially the star Brunson, although he is not famous, but his hard power and ability to lead the team are enough, and he can prove himself in this high-intensity game in the playoffs, and he has the demeanor of a superstar.
8 for 1! Epic deals struck! The New York Big Three was born, and the favorites for the new season are here. Next season, a healthy Knicks will definitely be one of the favorites to challenge for the championship, and there are not many super teams in the East after all, which gives them a chance to achieve a breakthrough. For the Nets on the other side, in the past few years, the Nets have been playing the role of "wronged" in the trade market, three years ago the dream three of Harden, Durant and Irving, but in the end, they were all the same, and the three did not play a few games together, and soon broke up. Simmons, who was traded with Harden, took a contract for nothing after joining the Nets and didn't play, and the Nets were really unlucky. Now, the deal that sent Bridges away might provide them with some solace and be worth it in exchange for five first-rounders.