Tag: New York Knicks

Nets receive G Shake Milton from Knicks to complete Mikal Bridges trade

The Brooklyn Nets will be receiving Shake Milton to complete the Mikal Bridges trade, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

The Brooklyn Nets officially began their rebuild last week when they traded Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks in exchange for forward Bojan Bogdanovic and as many as five first-round picks. However, the trade wasn’t officially completed because the Knicks did not send away enough salary, until New York found someone to part with more than a week later.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium on Thursday, the Knicks will be signing guard Shake Milton to a three-year, $9 million deal before trading him to the Nets to complete the Bridges trade. Charania also notes that Brooklyn will be sending forward Keita Bates-Diop to New York as part of the deal.

Fred Katz of The Athletic later added that the Knicks will also be sending forward Mamadi Diakite in order to avoid being capped at the first apron as stated by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Charania reported towards the end of June that Bates-Diop opted in to his $2.65 player option for this season.

So, in addition to Bogdanovic and the first-round picks, the Nets will also be receiving Milton and Diakite, two players that could either be flipped for more assets or could get playing time on a Brooklyn team that is clearly in rebuild mode. How much playing time either of the new incoming players will receive is still left to be determined, but it looks like the Bridges trade should be complete at this point.

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Chet Holmgren hilariously welcomes Isaiah Hartenstein to OKC Thunder

Chet Holmgren hilariously welcomes Isaiah Hartenstein to OKC Thunder.

The Oklahoma City Thunder made a free agency splash by acquiring Isaiah Hartenstein for a three-year, $87 million deal. The 26-year-old’s addition shores up OKC’s rebounding and size woes.

Hartenstein also gives the Thunder a shot to utilize a proper double-big lineup with Chet Holmgren. This supplies OKC with two of the best rim protectors.

The 22-year-old sounded excited about Hartenstein’s inclusion to the youngest first seed in league history. Holmgren went to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his eagerness to be on the same squad as the seven-footer.

Expect plenty of Hartenstein-Holmgren frontcourts over the next couple of seasons. Both players give OKC elite shot blockers who will be lob threats on the other end.

The Thunder hit a home run with Hartenstein’s addition. He easily became the best free agent signing since the franchise relocated to OKC in 2008.

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Why the Thunder are the biggest winners of the offseason (so far!) after signing Isaiah Hartenstein

How far can Oklahoma City go next season?

The Oklahoma City Thunder have done a tremendous job, adding the perfect role players to surround their already impressive young core of talent.

After finishing tied for the best record in the Western Conference last year, the Thunder made a solid move to acquire defensive stalwart Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls. Oklahoma City also did well in the draft, adding a promising young guard later in the lottery with Nikola Topic.

They have since reportedly signed former New York Knicks big man Isaiah Hartenstein, who had a breakout season in 2023-24. Put it all together and all of these moves are sound, financially savvy, and also address the issues that they ran into during the postseason.

Other organizations pursued bigger stars and made splashier moves than the Oklahoma City front office did so far this offseason.

But those teams will have to clear their books and consolidate their rosters to make room for their new additions, potentially sacrificing necessary depth in the process.

This team had already re-signed important players such Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, too.

The Thunder still have everyone who played a positive role on their roster but made the right moves around the edges to complement the group that has played so well together. This continuity will keep the chemistry strong as the players continue developing each other.

However, players such as Hartenstein and Caruso will likely increase the overall productivity on both sides of the court as they look to make an even deeper push in the playoffs.

Hartenstein isn’t your traditional star signing that “wins” during free agency. But with his size and skill, he will add a necessary edge as a rebounder and a defender while also profiling with an impressive blend of passing and scoring on offense as well.

Caruso, meanwhile, is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. He will fit like a glove around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. It is a good time to invest in Oklahoma City’s future.

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Report: OKC Thunder signs Isaiah Hartenstein to three-year, $87 million deal

Report: OKC Thunder signs Isaiah Hartenstein to three-year, $87 million deal.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed Isaiah Hartenstein to a three-year, $87 million, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. This comes less than a day after they reportedly met with the free agent at Oregon.

The Thunder have fixed most of the rebounding and size problems they endured last season with Hartenstein’s. His 18.5% rebound rate last season would’ve easily ranked first last season among regular OKC players.

Hartenstein had a breakout year last season with the New York Knicks. He took over the starting center spot for them once Mitchell Robinson went down and was a starter for 49 out of 75 games.

The 26-year-old averaged 7.8 points on 64.4% shooting, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks. At 7-foot, 250 pounds, he gives OKC some serious size at the backup big spot.

Hartenstein will likely be the Thunder’s backup center. There’s some jumbo-lineup flexibility when he shares a frontcourt with Chet Holmgren.

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Report: OKC Thunder to meet with free agent Isaiah Hartenstein

Report: OKC Thunder to have meeting with free agent Isaiah Hartenstein.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will fly out to Oregon to meet with Isaiah Hartenstein in a free-agent meeting, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

He described it as an aggressive pitch by OKC. Hartenstein is a perfect fit in OKC at the backup center spot. He could shore up its size and rebounding woes.

Hartenstein had a breakout year last season with the New York Knicks. He took over the starting center spot for them once Mitchell Robinson went down and was a starter for 49 out of 75 games.

The 26-year-old averaged 7.8 points on 64.4% shooting, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks. He was a starter in their playoff run.

The Thunder have $30 million in cap space to spend this offseason. They will likely sign Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to extensions. OKC declined the duo’s cheap options for next season.

If the Thunder adds Hartenstein, it will likely be a short-term deal. The Thunder must clear up cap space in two years once the impending extensions of Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams kick in.

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Are the Knicks Boston’s biggest threat in the East?

Will the New York Knicks emerge as the Boston Celtics biggest threat in the coming years?

The Boston Celtics are the 2024 NBA Champions. They dominated both the regular season and the playoffs. However, the New York Knicks made some moves ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline that has set them up for contention in the coming years, along with witnessing the consistent growth of Jalen Brunson.

As such, New York could be Boston’s biggest threat in the East for the foreseeable future. Tom Thibodeau has them playing an elite brand of defense, and Brunson is one of the best-scoring guards in the NBA. The two teams are likely heading for a collision course.

During a recent episode of “The Odd Couple” for Fox Sports Radio, Kevin Garnett admitted that he views the Knicks as Boston’s biggest Eastern Conference Rivals for the 2024-25 season and potentially beyond.

Since this episode was recorded, the Knicks have also added Mikal Bridges to their roster, further strengthening the team on both sides of the ball.

If you want to hear Garnett’s full comments on a potential Knicks/Celtics rivalry, you can do so by clicking on the embedded link above.

Subscribe to the “Celtics Chronicle” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3UAVYRg

Spotify:  https://spoti.fi/3y0H4Lh

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3QnlPcS

Substack: https://bit.ly/3WoA0Cf

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2024 NBA draft: OKC Thunder selects Ajay Mitchell with No. 38 selection

2024 NBA draft: OKC Thunder selects Ajay Mitchell with No. 38 selection.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have drafted UC Santa Barbara’s Ajay Mitchell with the No. 38 pick of the 2024 NBA draft, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania. This selection comes after they acquired it from the New York Knicks in exchange for cash considerations.

The Thunder reportedly acquired the No. 40 pick from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for the No. 52 pick, which OKC received from the Golden State Warriors for Lindy Waters III.

The 22-year-old played in three college seasons from 2021-24. He spent all three campaigns at UC Santa Barbara.

In 29 games last season, Mitchell averaged 20 points on 50.4% shooting, four assists and four rebounds. He shot 39.3% from 3 on 2.9 attempts. At 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, he’s a bit small for a guard.

Mitchell will likely spend most of his rookie season with the G League’s OKC Blue. There’s a shot he is added in one of the two-way slots.

Mitchell joins Nikola Topic and Dillon Jones as the Thunder’s 2024 rookie class.

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2024 NBA draft: Thunder trade for No. 26 pick, add Weber State’s Dillon Jones

2024 NBA draft: Thunder trade for No. 26 pick, add Weber State’s Dillon Jones.

The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Weber State’s Dillon Jones with the No. 26 pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA draft. This comes after the Thunder acquired the draft pick from the New York Knicks.

The Thunder ship five second-round draft picks from 2025-27 to the Knicks, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

The 22-year-old played four college seasons from 2021-24 at Weber State. He was a starter in his last three seasons with the Wildcats.

In 31 games last season, Jones averaged 20.8 points on 48.9% shooting, 9.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and two steals. He shot 32.4% from 3 on 3.4 attempts. At 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, he has good size for a forward.

Jones joins Nikola Topic as the Thunder’s first-round haul. He was selected with the No. 12 selection.

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Social media reacts to Knicks re-signing OG Anunoby: ‘An elite rotation and not one player has even turned 30’

The New York Knicks pulled the trigger yesterday by acquiring Mikal Bridges in a blockbuster to add another former Villanova star. Many people started wondering if that meant OG Anunoby was going elsewhere, considering the amount of money the Knicks …

The New York Knicks pulled the trigger yesterday by acquiring Mikal Bridges in a blockbuster to add another former Villanova star. Many people started wondering if that meant OG Anunoby was going elsewhere, considering the amount of money the Knicks had on the books with other players.

However, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Anunoby was signing a five-year, $212.5 million deal to stay with the Knicks.

Here is how social media reacted after the news broke of Anunoby’s monster deal.

Report: Nets were always aware of Mikal Bridges’ desire to join the Knicks

Per Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports, the Brooklyn Nets were always aware of Mikal Bridges’ desire to join the New York Knicks.

The Brooklyn Nets finally made the move to send them into a full rebuild by trading wing Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks late on Tuesday night. While there had been plenty of reporting suggesting that Brooklyn wanted to hold on to Bridges, they may have just been delaying the inevitable.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports wrote on Wednesday that the Nets were always aware of Bridges’ interest in joining the Knicks, something that Nets fans do not want to hear after watching him play for their franchise for the past 1.5 seasons. There was already a significant amount of the fanbase who believed that Bridges wanted to be with his former Villanova teammates anyway.

“The Knicks, sources said, upped the ante Tuesday with a significant offer that Brooklyn simply could not refuse, marking the first time these two neighboring franchises have struck a deal since 1983,” Fischer wrote.

To recap, the Nets traded Bridges along with a 2026 second-round pick in exchange for forward Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029, 2031), one top-four protected 2025 first-round pick via the Milwaukee Bucks, an unprotected pick swap in 2028, and a second-round pick in 2025.

One of the main talking points within the Nets community was if Bridges would be more valuable as a trade piece for Brooklyn as opposed to staying on the roster in the event that the Nets were able to bring in a star somehow. Based on various reports, Brooklyn did what it could to hold on to Bridges, but with the offer that the Knicks made, the Nets can start over with arguably the best stable of draft capital in the NBA.

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