Mikal Bridges trade rumors: Why Nets are hesitant to move their star and what landing spots would make sense

The Brooklyn Nets really want you to know that they’re not trading Mikal Bridges. The Memphis Grizzlies offered four first-round picks as soon as the Nets acquired him. Brooklyn said no. The Rockets offered them their own picks back from the 2021 James Harden trade. Brooklyn said no. At virtually every opportunity, the Nets have painstakingly leaked to reporters that Bridges is not on the table.

And yet, a new Bridges rumor or trade idea seems to pop up every week or two. Half of the league wants him, and no matter how many times the Nets tell the world he’s not available, nobody seems to believe them. So what’s happening here? Why can’t Bridges escape the rumor mill? Is he truly available? What teams might have enough to pry him away from the Nets this offseason?

Why he’s in trade rumors

Because the Nets are in purgatory. It’s really that simple. The Nets weren’t good enough to seriously compete for even a Play-In spot last season. There’s no reason to believe the current roster is going to be any better next season. Yet without control over any of their own first-round picks through 2027, the Nets have little incentive for being this bad. They either need to fully embrace a rebuild or find a way into contention. The latter seems less likely than the former.

There was a time in which the widespread expectation around the league was that Donovan Mitchell would force his way out of Cleveland. That was Brooklyn’s path out of the bottom. Mitchell is a New York native. The Nets, with max cap space during Mitchell’s free agency year of 2025, could leverage a good price for him. But if Mitchell stays put, there aren’t any more readymade New York-born stars that would want to make the Nets their destination.

Bridges has a skill set that fits practically any team. He’s a high-end 3-and-D wing that brings meaningful secondary shot-creation. More than that, he has a contract that fits any team. He’s owed only $48.2 million over the next two seasons combined. The closer that contract gets to expiring, the less value Bridges has in a trade….

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Author : Sam Quinn

Publish date : 2024-06-23 19:28:43

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