The New York Knicks are in BIG TROUBLE

The New York Knicks are in BIG TROUBLE

in trading for maau Bridges the New York Knicks complete the novax prophecy that was foretold well just like that out of nowhere and to the dismay of the Nets fans out there Mel Bridges is a Nick and I couldn’t be more excited to see all the Nova boys on the same floor again despite this excitement there are potential downsides to this move don’t get me wrong I love the trade Bridges is likely to return to the player we saw in Phoenix which is an all defensive threein D wing and one of if not the best role players in the NBA not to mention he’s on a pretty great contract for the value he’ll be bringing making 23 million this year and 24.9 million next year considering guys like Grayson Allen and Cameron Johnson earned similarly this is a steal there have been some wild opinions around Bridges during his time in Brooklyn that he can’t be a number one option which is just silly there were never any expectations for brid to be that and just because he got hot at the end of the season doesn’t mean that was going to be sustainable the Nets just put him in a horrible position that forced him to have a way too heavy workload on offense taking away from his defensive capabilities with the Knicks he’ll be in an offense that will spread the ball out between four players including himself making it easy for him to return to form so Bridges fits well and he’s on a good contract some may complain that the Knicks gave up a ton of picks for him but they still have plenty to spare to potentially pull off another deal with all of these positives what could go wrong well their offseason plans may change thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement under the new CBA the Knicks are 6 million below the first April the trade for Bridges doesn’t change that since he and buan bogdanovich make similar amounts however with OG and noobi signing his massive 5-year 200 112 million extension they were extremely close to entering the first apron the Knicks have avoided the dreaded hard cap at the first apron although legal ease about the collective bargaining agreement is not the most provocative Topic in sports this changes how they can handle the rest of their off season but the Knicks will be hard capped at the second apron rather than the first as a result of the inclusion of shake Milton and mamat de aiti in the maau bridges deal second apron penalties include being unable to include cash in trades first round picks s years away are untradeable no trade exceptions can be used from multiple players salaries no previous trade exceptions can be used and the final one being a team’s first round is moved to the end of the round if they stay in the second apron for three or five seasons under the first apron the major restrictions are that the Knicks cannot acquire a player in a signin trade which they won’t need to they also cannot use pre-existing trade exceptions which is not a big deal and they cannot sign a wave player with a pre-existing salary of 13 million or more for some teams this may cause issues but given the Nick’s circumstances they’d likely be fine in this territory even if they did not avoid it the Knicks were also not able to resign Isaiah hardenstein he left the Knicks to sign a three-year 87 million deal with the OKC hardenstein signed with the Knicks on a 2-year 16 million contract as a free agent in 2022 and the deal proved to be one of the best value contracts in the NBA he was one of the best reserves in the league during the 2022 to 23 season playing all 82 games as the Knicks returned to the playoffs he then replaced the injured Mitchell Robinson as the starter last season and helped the Knicks come within one game of the Eastern Conference Finals however the collective bar tting agreement created two significant barriers for the Knicks in resigning hardenstein the first was their own fault the Knicks signed hardenstein for only two years in 2022 that meant from the moment they got him that they would be limited in their ability to resign him because he would only have early bird rights as a 2024 free agent instead of full bird rights those early bird rights allowed the Knicks to only offer him a 75% raise on his previous salary in a new deal losing hardenstein really hurts the Knicks both because of what he provides on the floor and the culture he brings this is the price winning teams have to pay now that’s just the big stuff some smaller stipulations could harm the Knicks as well they are going to enter the second apron if they bring hardenstein back so trading for Bridges who brings more value and letting hardenstein walk to stay out of the first or second apron for as long as possible was likely the right move in terms of pure playing style and the power of friendship he provides Bridges is a near perfect fit with the Knicks while positionally things could get a little wonky as he has never been a full-time shooting guard his game on both sides of the ball makes it easy to see him filling in the position as of now it appears that the knck starting lineup could be Bridges OG Brunson Randall and Robinson on paper this is a pretty stacked roster hopefully Bridges can make it work as the two guard work because I doubt he wants to consistently come off the bench for the first time since his second season and there’s no way OG just signed a massive contract to be a sixth man if Bridges can’t make the two work things could get awkward for Randall who almost feels like the odd man out for a couple of reasons his playoff failures which New York may not want to take the risk on but most importantly a potentially massive contract extension coming up that will for sure push the Knicks into the second apron maybe this is the deranged thoughts of a Knicks fan up well past his bedtime trying to make sense of the chaos that ensued but for the first time in a while Randall has a realistic chance of getting traded in order to sharpen the starting lineup and help avoid the wrath of Adam Silver in the future brandle is up for an extension and unlikely to take a pay cut while it won’t kick in this season he’d have to decline his player option for 2025 to 26 to sign one making the cap hit start sooner than later this will for sure send the Knicks into the second apron next season and if he doesn’t improve in the playoffs it could get incredibly difficult to move on from him given all of the restrictions so unless the front office wants to be in hard situation with the second apron moving forward it seems like the best options are to either let Randle decline his player option and walk or trade him for a cheaper option and maybe avoid the second apron for another season or two Randle is incredibly valuable as a scorer rebounder and playmaker he can be frustrating in the playoffs but given the current construction of the roster they have enough to mask his struggles if this continues Randall has practically built this Nick’s culture from the ground up and losing him would be a hard hit unfortunately though basketball is a business and if the Knicks want to continue improving they will have to keep [Music] Randall this has been a relatively pessimistic take on the Bridge’s trade but this simply trying to put a more objective spin on things luckily the Knicks will have at least one season under the first apron meaning they’ll have time to see how this roster Works before deciding if they want to dive head first into the pits of CBA Bridges is a great player one who fits well with this roster he and OG will form one of the best defensive Duos in the NBA and bridges offense as suspect as was last season will improve playing with this Knick’s team

Trading for Mikal Bridges was arguably the single most surprising move of the NBA offseason. The New York Knicks emptied the pick pile it assembled for years in anticipation of a star trade who is a superstar fit. Coming off a season where they suffered a second-round Game 7 loss, New York now has major championship aspirations. But could things be as sunshine and rainbows as they seem?

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