Knicks are REAL THREAT…still A LOT TO BE DONE after getting Mikal Bridges – Bob Myers | First Take

Knicks are REAL THREAT…still A LOT TO BE DONE after getting Mikal Bridges – Bob Myers | First Take

the first round tonight at 8 Eastern on ABC ESPN ESPN Deportes from barlay Center in Brooklyn and the second round tomorrow afternoon 4 Eastern on ESPN from our Studios uh The seport District in New York City the Atlanta Hawks have the first pick but New York already in the mix making things happen the Knicks coming off an incredible season despite being riddled with injuries and now they’re going all in for next season after acquiring male Bridges another Villanova star from the Nets Brooklyn piling up picks according to W sending bogdanovich four unprotected first round picks a 2025 protected first rounder via the Bucks a 2028 unprotected pick Swap and a 2025 second rounder for Bridges bridges Landing in MSG swung the Knicks title odds over on ESPN bet prior to the trade the Knicks were 16 to one to take home the title next season after acquiring Bridges New York’s odds improved from 10 to one all right welcome in two executive of the Year Bob Meyers Steph friend from NBA Countdown hi B who invite who invited him in here I mean are you sure the producers who invited this guy I apologize for him I Molly I agreed to do the show I thought it would be a civil show I was excited about it and he’s already ruining my experience you please get control of this guy you know what Bob it’s an a andb conversation and he can just see his way out of it right now okay so you’re just talking to me and mad dog here in Bristol but no seriously great to have you with us and we’re excited about the draft tonight and you’ll be a part of that coverage obviously that’s right so Bob break this down for me because there’s already been a lot of news do you feel like the Knicks are now the biggest threat to Boston in the East when we look at teams like Philly in Miami in Milwaukee still with question marks yeah Molly I think if you ask me right now in this moment at this time on Wednesday morning yeah but but a lot to be done still I mean there’s a lot of balls up in the air probably more than we’ve seen in the past few years in free agency you still got to see what Philly’s going to do Miami’s got some decisions to make do these other teams does Milwaukee stay Pat I do think the Celtics no matter what happens will remain the favorite in the East but the Knicks just took a real step in the direction of threatening them and that’s all you can ask for the question is Molly there’s two questions I have yeah uh will they keep OG will they keep OG and the bridges contract um as good of a player he is he’s one of the best values in the NBA allows them to keep keep OG but I do want to focus on hartenstein too because he was a big part of that Nick’s success some of the best lineups were with him and Brunson so I do think the story isn’t is not completely written for the Knicks either so but but as far as Nicks go the other the other question is this is their move so if you’re playing poker they just pushed all their chips in the middle to a certain degree and that’s fine but I don’t that the idea that the Knicks are going to go get another star they just used up a ton of draft Capital so is this the move to put him over the top and that’ll be the question well I I well first of all I want to say I’m proud of him for showing some objectivity when it comes to my New York Knicks I’m very very proud of him you know that’s number one because he usually uses as an opportunity doggy he’s like he’s like you on the weekends you know what I’m saying you do it on Wednesdays he saves it for the weekends messing with me all year long trying to squash my dreams and stuff like that but you know I appreciate that let me ask you this Bob when you look at the New York Knicks acquiring Bridges is it necessary in your mind for them to keep hartenstein or does the nucleus that they have in place afford them the luxury I’m not saying you want to lose him because I know he’s an Energizer Bunny but in the same breath maybe going a different direction in the event that you’re not able to keep them to to use whatever assets you have to get somebody else to replace them what are your thoughts about that well look they might have had trouble Stephen A keeping him anyway so this doesn’t preclude them from keeping him they might have lost hartenstein anyway because they’re capped on what they can pay him so this didn’t really make put them in a worse situation potentially they can still do that if they want to do it I just look at the way they played and how important he was to them but you can’t knock what they’ve done with Bridges and by the way what they’ve done over the last few years if you’re a Knicks fan I mean I used to walk around people would tell me hey come fix the Knicks Nicks don’t need me the Knicks front office has done a tremendous job they really have if I was a Knicks fan I have a smart front office I have a thoughtful front office office um the years of complaining and whining why can’t we be this or that the Knicks are a serious organization now and they’re a serious Contender and they’ve made a lot of smart decisions if you want to be critical you might say hey could they have put this same package together a year ago for Donovan Mitchell if I wanted to be critical but no front office is perfect and who’s to say that would have been the right thing to do or not they’re a they’re a real threat in the East they’re a real threat in the NBA Stephen A and as hard as it is for me to say that because I know you’re a Nicks fan I have to acknowledge what they’ve done and they’ve done a really smart thing here and if they can keep OG and and noi what they’re creating is this versatile team versatile offensively versal defensively with optionality because even bringing back OG they may be out draft picks but the players they have on their team whether it’s Steven chenzo whether it’s Hart obviously brunson’s value OG’s value brid’s value if they want to make moves in the future they can still do it with those players even though they won’t have the draft Capital so no issue with them giving up four first rounds unprotected four first round unprotected picks and five overall no issue with that you you know what Stephen if if I wanted to have an issue with that what I would say is what else could you have done with those and that’s where you I don’t know the minds of the front office of the Knicks thinking let’s not do Bridges because we have a shot at Mitchell or let’s not do Bridges because we could have gotten Paul George I don’t know what was realistic or not I don’t see a player on the horizon I mean people talk about Booker I know we might talk about Durant I don’t know that those guys are getting moved in any capacity so as far as what was on the table and the value of brid’s contract I like it but at the same time I don’t know Stephen A if there was something forthcoming I always used to hang on to those picks when I was at GM until I knew it was obvious that we should move them but in this day and age there’s so much player movement that I I can’t be critical of this because the Knicks especially this Villanova weird thing they got going it seems to be working for him so I’m not going to be critical of anything they’ve done lately that was a brilliant move and he has done a tremendous job running team and everybody likes to kill Dolan you can’t let’s give Dolan a credit for a change he brought the guy in and he stayed out of the way and Rose has done a great job that’s number one number two Shan Mor finally did something right how he still has his job is a joke he fired ainson who now gets a job with the Cleveland he fire he hired Nash that was a disaster he brought vaugh in he fired this is his fourth head coach he brought Harden in which is a complete mess the Durant Kyrie Irving thing did nothing to him so how he still has a job to me if I was the owner I a major problem with that but I think he made the right move here I think that they were not going to win anything with Bridges bridges is a very nice piece and a real good team and he’s not a guy that’s going to lead you to the promised land you can build your ball Club around we saw that last year so Marx here made a very very good trade number three the Knicks were the second best team in the NBA in the East anyway all right they would have beaten Indiana if they were healthy in game seven they would have won that series they were all banged up they had nobody to can play so they would have won anyway so the idea now that they somehow going to jump the number two because they made the bridg straight no they’re not they were two anyway bucks are a mess Philadelphia needs a third player plus embid never wins in a postseason let’s be honest and Indiana you know they should have beaten Indiana anyway so the idea that somehow the Knicks are going to go from five to two because they made this trade I do not buy and then finally listen Bridges is a good player don’t get me we all know he’s a good player hartenstein is a lot better than Stevie especially Bob you understand he is a lot better than people realize now whether they would have lost him anyway hardenstein he he’s a good offensive rebounder he’s a tremendous passer he makes a contribution without having a score he gets his hands on loose balls I love the kid I would hate to lose him if I’m the Knicks plus he’s got size he can guard and if Oklahoma City gets him that’s a great move I don’t think Bridges puts them that much closer to the Celtics I’m not saying the move shouldn’t have been made you know the NBA landscape even Stephen A does a lot better than I do don’t get me wrong I don’t know all the situations with salary caps and all that you that’s your you’re the experts I’m not but I’m telling you right now they are not beating the Celtics I don’t care if they get Bridges or not Celtics they went 4-1 against Miami they lost three playoff games that championship’s going to help them because they finally get over this the hump they got everybody back porzingis will play more next year in the postseason the Knicks are still no better with bridges in a seven game series they’d still lose in five games to Boston in an Eastern Conference Final yeah yeah I look on a basic principle Mad Dog anything you say against Stephen A I’m just going to go with it whether it makes sense or not on a Bas right there that’s you right there go ahead man go ahead no look a lot of that makes sense um whether they were solidly at two but here’s the thing what does it mean to be the second best team in your conference I I I think what’s what you see happen with the Nick are now the Knicks fans are getting expectations right their expectations with this move I imagine the New York fan Bas is thinking we better at least go to the Eastern Conference Finals that has to be the floor for success for this Nicks team but then it becomes when you’re building a team to both you guys or anybody you want to feel like you can win a championship and I think that’s the place the Knicks are in now they’re competing I believe in their own mind with the Boston Celtics which is fair because the Boston Celtics just won the championship are they putting a team together that is good enough to beat them I do think hartstein needs to be part of that now can they keep him or not I don’t know because the Celtics have built something that is dominant they got five guys that can shoot the ball they got six guys that can handle the ball make plays it’s it’s one of the better teams we’ve seen in a long time in either conference but again the Knicks here this is a good move only because Bridges can play 45 minutes in a playoff game again bringing back OG and hardenstein would in my mind make a series against the Celtics very competitive [Music] [Applause] [Music] NBA is

Knicks are REAL THREAT…still A LOT TO BE DONE after getting Mikal Bridges – Bob Myers | First Take

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo and Bob Myers react to the New York Knicks acquiring Mikal Bridges in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

0:00 Knicks land Mikal Bridges
3:30 Are the Knicks contenders?
6:25 Mad Dog’s thoughts

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