Nova Knicks, Nowhere Nets and the art of draft pick arbitrage

A fascinating pair of trades on NBA Draft Eve.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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Portraits at the Stock Exchange; Edgar Degas; 1878-79

We had two blockbuster trades late on Tuesday … involving exactly two NBA players total.

First, the Nets traded Mikal Bridges (!) to the Knicks (!!!) for Bojan Bogdanovic and a bunch of draft equity. And by a bunch of draft equity we mean a bunch of draft equity.

• The Knicks’ unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031

• An unprotected Knicks pick swap option in 2028

• The Bucks’ top-4 protected first in 2025

• A 2025 second-rounder

This is basically the same package the Jazz received in the Rudy Gobert trade (counting Walker Kessler as a draft pick, not a player). This is similar to package Brooklyn received last winter in the Kevin Durant deal … except that was three firsts, a swap plus … Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, plus two seconds.

Effectively, what the Nets got back for trading Durant as of when the Bridges trade happened: eight first-round picks, two unprotected pick swap options, three seconds and Cam Johnson.

But the Nets weren’t done. Part of the problem with rebuilding if you’re the Nets is that they owe a number of their own picks to the Rockets from the James Harden deal. But if you trade Bridges for draft equity after going 32-50 … you’re rebuilding.

It’s arbitrage time!