Bridges joins fellow Villanova Wildcat alums Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo in what promises to be a very dynamic and diversified offense. Head coach Tom Thibodeau loves players that can play multiple positions and that can rotate in and out of the starting lineup. With Bridges and Hart, he has two players that can play the 2 or the 3. That means both players can be on the court along with Brunson. It also gives the Knicks four exceptionally strong wing men that can score and defend.
Forget the draft picks. The Knicks had eleven first rounders before the trade; now they have six. What was Rose supposed to do with them, hang them on his office wall and stare at them? The idea that there was some mythical trade out there that he was supposed to wait for is nice, but ultimately unsubstantiated. For all we know, this was the best deal he was going to get, and even that wouldn't have gotten done had Bridges not made it clear to the Nets that he wanted out of Brooklyn and his preference was the Knicks. The Monday-morning quarterback contingent needs to cool their jets.
The real problem for Rose isn't draft capital, it's cap space. Because of the way this trade went down, the Knicks had only $50 million left in hard cap space with which to compete their roster. With the addition of Bridges, they had just 10 players under contract for the 2024-25 season. The NBA minimum is 14. OG Anunoby, Isaiah Hartenstein and Precious Achiuwa were among those who still were unsigned, and all three had played pivotal roles in this team's success last season.
Well, strike one free agent off the list. Earlier today, the Knicks re-signed Anunoby to a 5-year, $212.5 million deal. While the average annual value is $42.5 million, the way the contract is structured, the cap hit for year one is only $36.7 million.
The significance of this signing cannot be overstated. Anunoby, who opted out of the last year of his contract, could easily have signed a max deal with another team. There was talk that the Philadelphia 76ers were very much interested in acquiring his services. Daryl Morey would've liked nothing better than to snatch him away from New York. You could just see the headlines in the Philly press.
Losing OG to the Sixers would've been devastating for this organization. It would've meant that the Knicks basically gave up RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley for what amounted to a rental. Now that won't happen. A crucial piece of this team has been locked up for the next five years. And if Rose can get creative over the next few days, he might be able to pull another rabbit or two out of his hat.
Because New York owns the early-bird rights to Hartenstein, the most they can offer him is a four-year contract at $72.5 million. That comes out to an average of $18 million per year. A team like the Oklahoma City Thunder, who desperately need a physical center, could easily offer him five years at $25 million per. But like Anunoby, maybe I-Hart takes less to remain with the Knicks. Who knows? Perhaps the luster of chasing a championship is worth more to him than a few extra million bucks. Moving Mitchell Robinson would give the Knicks the cap space they need to get this done.
Yes, Leon Rose had himself a good day yesterday, and an even better one today. He not only landed his number one offseason target, he held on to one of his best players. But his work isn't done. In fact, you could say it's just beginning.
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