Perk on Mikal Bridges joining the NOVA KNICKS 🗣️ ‘HELL YEA he was their guy!’ | NBA Today

Perk on Mikal Bridges joining the NOVA KNICKS 🗣️ ‘HELL YEA he was their guy!’ | NBA Today

New York Knicks have pushed their chips in agreeing in principle to acquire male Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets for boogan bogdanovich for um protected first round picks a protected first round pick via the Bucks and a unprotected pick Swap and an additional second rounder sources told our Adrien wowski the Blockbuster deal turns the Nova Nicks into a quartet and it’s safe to say the former Wildcats are pretty excited about it Jaylen Brunson said OMG just that Josh Hart yo we bleeping lit can’t say that on TV and Mel Bridges said this is crazy LOL and just because Dante Dean chenzo wasn’t active on social media it doesn’t mean he wasn’t excited about it that is all of them on a cute little FaceTime I didn’t know you could do that with FaceTime uh okay so w we’ve been waiting for the Knicks to make a move to kind of shake things up a bit the last several years they finally got it done last night why now and why Bridges well he became available and players like Mel Bridges do not become a available in the NBA and when they do you’re going to have to pay a premium what the Knicks have done is they have hoarded their draft picks two years ago they put limits on how far they would go in a Donovan Donovan Mitchell offer but you know they had nine draft picks that they could put into a trade last night you know they put in four of their own unprotected picks that’s a lot uh the Bucks pick and Mel Bridges just fits perfectly the the obvious chemistry with the Villanova group with the Knicks but you are trying to beat the Boston Celtics in the East you’re trying to beat them in the NBA and what the Knicks have done and they two major moves here in the last several months ogan anobi prior to the trade deadline and now Mel Bridges two highlevel two-way Wing players and if you’re going to be Boston you better have those kinds of wings and so they paid a premium certainly for Bridges but you have to and again those kind of players don’t become available and If you the Nets the Knicks aren’t winning a tie with another team out there your preference isn’t necessarily to keep him in your own town they had to beat out several teams who had been aggressive for months Memphis Utah you know these are teams who had been after Mel Bridges no shortage of teams around the league he fits anywhere and now uh the goal certainly for the Knicks is you know to get a OG anobi free agent deal done uh but this heated up yesterday this by from the afternoon into the evening uh they started to get traction on this and when the Nets were able to get their picks back from the Houston Rockets in that trade so now if you’re the Nets and you’re essentially tanking if you’re going to be at the bottom of the lottery you want to have your own draft pick you don’t want it to go into the Houston Rocket so they had to send them their sons picks and now you’re the Nets 16 first round picks four first round picks next year in a really really deep Elite 2 uh 25 draft class per I’m going to ask you this because obviously as I mentioned we’ve been waiting for the Knicks to make a big move I feel like people expected it to be a little bigger we’ve been talking about guys over the last few years do you feel like male was the right guy for them to make this move with hell yeah he definitely wasn’t the wrong guy and like w said when you get an opportunity to get your hands on the player like Mel Bridges you do it that’s that’s that’s almost like receiving tax taxfree money you know what I mean when you get taxfree money you know that feeling right so when I think about Mel Bridges he’s the Nicks Drew holiday with Drew holiday is to the Boston Celtics that’s what he’s going to be for the New York Knicks ultimate two-way player we know that he defends at a high level a God that could possibly be in the defensive player of the year conversation night in and night out last season uh he averaged what 26 points per game because so he’s proven that he could get Buckets and he’s proving that he could play his role for us knocking down threes one of the best slashers at the basket and do it at a high efficient level so the Knicks won they saw what Boston did and you got to have pieces to beat Boston you got to have those perimeter players and Defenders and he’s one of the best out of out there I would say is Jaylen Brown and Drew holiday and then one could argue as Mel Bridges that’s that’s available 1 A’s don’t become available they just don’t become available in the NBA and there is a salary cap and no uh muel Bridges has a contract that fits in with this Nick team they’re going to have to pay a lot of money to keep keep OG and anobi you Boston’s still probably going to have the best player in any Series against the Knicks maybe they have the best two but I think if you’re the Knicks what you’re trying to do is beat them with your depth beat them with your Chemistry you know beat them with you know these Elite wings uh you’re not going to find a better player necessarily than Jason Tatum but this is the neet I think for the Knicks you know this is their this is their way to put a group together that can compete and try to be better than them maybe one through 10 you know and you guys hit it on the head culture-wise this this move fits you got a guy that obviously has played and gets along with his other co-workers um but my biggest thing is Mel’s back in his natural habitat as a third best player on the team yeah and that’s no slight to him he was great with Brooklyn but they were one of the worst teams in the league for a reason because he was a go-to guy there now he gets to fall back in his role Knowing Your Role is the one of the better skills in the NBA and as we saw this past season role players and guys who are like Swiss Army knives who can play on both sides of the ball are hard to come by and the ones who are at Elite can make a huge difference you talk about the Celtics as he pointed out you have drew holiday you have Dereck white you have a plethora of these guys who can make adjustments and make plays on both sides of the ball now that Knicks have multiple guys in bodies that they can throw at a Tatum and a brown they have three or four players that they can have and rotate guarding these guys who can all shoot the ball get out and transition and play and then you have a closer with Rand and Brunson so you know and Austin makes a great point the Villanova guys in the NBA they’ve been a lot better together than any of them were apart from each other in the NBA and you’re not trying to put an All-Star team together you’re trying chemistry is hard to have in the NBA there are dynamics in every locker room every team where there’s friction where it doesn’t fit and when you have what the Knicks have I think the sum you know the sum is greater than the parts and and that’s a unique thing and I think the Knicks are just building on that I want to ask you really fast because obviously it’s been working really well for the Knicks we saw that this season but when you think about bringing in another villain NOA guy to this team how does their chemistry of those four affect the rest of the team it’s it’s really important just because when you look at their depth chart someone’s minutes are going to have to come back right like Josh Hart might not start next year that’s really important that the person that’s starting in front of him is someone he considers as a friend and someone that he’s willing to back up and support you can’t start all of them you can’t start divon chinzo and Josh Hart and Mel Bridges and OG and Randle it’s just not going to work that’s they’re undersized for one and a lot of those guys do similar things so I think it’s very important like said and like CJ said that these guys get along and actually enjoy not only hanging out with each other off the court but actually playing with each other and that it leads to success I think it’s a big deal okay so the what were we going to say I I I just I feel like they don’t have that problem right they don’t have to worry about uh in in locker room problems or issues or guys talking about guys behind their back they’ve established a culture the New York Knicks are eye candy right like if you’re on the opposing team and you’re a disgruntled Allstar Superstar caliber player you’re looking over there you saying man I want want to go play with those guys right I want to go play for Tom Tibido and real quick let me let me squash some nonsense that’s been out there about Tom Tibido because I feel like it’s time to get that label off his back about him running guys into the ground that was the Chicago Tom Tibido that was the Minnesota Tom Tibido there Tom Tibido with the New York Knicks he’s not practicing his guys as much as he was back when he was coaching those teams it was a time where guys were complaining because you had to get your ankles t for shoot tibs is not doing that no so I want no no because he’s changed he’s changed that part about him and he’s grown in in that aspect and it feel like he that label has been stti stuck with him for the longest and and it’s time to stop yep all right uh the Knicks title odds moov significantly following the bridges trade dropping from 16 and one down to 10 and one that is tied for the fifth shortest odds in the entire league with the Mavericks and the Bucks we know that they’re one of the top teams in the East perk but uh you were all Nicks down the stretch do you agree that this is the mayor possibly now moving forward one of the top five teams in the league what yeah hell yeah first look the governor okay the governor the governor but with this move with this move and they get OG noi back they on the Celtics ass like back pockets and I’m talking about True Religions and red monkeys had to P red monkeys I was little too young yeah but but seriously they have the pieces and just think about it right they were a few injuries away of actually going to the Eastern Conference Finals this year now you add Mel Bridges you get back Julius Randall you don’t trade Julius rle Julius R is going to come back he’s going to buy into the system because you know this CJ Austin when you’re hurt and your team is having success without you what happens you tend to sit back and be like man when I get back I don’t want to be a distraction I got to buy in he’s going to buy in and be a better player the the player that the Knicks are going to have a very hard time keeping now is ISA hartenstein their Center who’s a free agent now how much I mean what do you I Fel like you wanted to say something no I mean I’m just thinking about what you would have to pay like what’s his market value what’s what’s there’s a limit they are capped on what they can pay him I think there is going to be more out in the market he’ll have to decide whether he’s going to take less to stay here they still have Mitchell Robinson can they choose between the two like can they find a place for Mitchell Robinson then then sign isah hardstein uh I think they’re going to let hartenstein make his decision and if he were to come back then maybe you trade Robinson [Music]

Adrian Wojnarowski, Kendrick Perkins, CJ McCollum and Austin Rivers join Christine Williamson on NBA Today to discuss the New York Knicks acquiring Mikal Bridges in a trade for Bojan Bogdanovic and picks with the Brooklyn Nets. Bridges will team up with his Villanova University teammates Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart.

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