The New York Knicks have expanded their deal to acquire former Villanova guard Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Knicks reserve guard Shake Milton is agreeing to a three-season, $9 million sign-and-trade deal that will send him to the Nets. Brooklyn, in turn, will ship out backup small forward Keita Bates-Diop to the Knicks.
Per Charania, Milton's deal will pay him more than the veteran's minimum in the first season. The second and third seasons in the deal will be non-guaranteed. According to NBA insider Yossi Gozlan, New York is able to tender Milton a $3.1 million deal for this impending season via his non-Bird rights.
Sources inform Fred Katz of The Athletic that little-used New York power forward/center Mamadi Diakite is also being added to the Bridges trade framework, and will now land in Brooklyn.
Gozlan estimates that $172 million will now be invested in 11 players for New York, which will put the team $16.9 million under the NBA's second luxury tax cap apron. The team will thus be able to potentially still use its taxpayer mid-level exception this season, worth $5.2 million, and perhaps find a way to bring back unrestricted free agent big man Precious Achiuwa.
The amended deal now will see Bridges, Bates-Diop, and a 2026 second rounder head to the Knicks. Bates-Diop will be added via a minimum-salary exception. Brooklyn, meanwhile, will add five future first round draft picks (with only one of those selections, from the Knicks via the Milwaukee Bucks in 2025, protected), a first round pick swap in 2028. A 2025 second rounder, originally from Brooklyn, will be returned to the Nets. The contracts of Milton, Diakite, and most importantly 35-year-old veteran power forward Bojan Bogdanovic (owed $19 million on an expiring deal), will also be headed to Brooklyn.
Bridges is the centerpiece of this deal, and will now join three of his title-winning Villanova teammates — All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson and wings Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart — on a chippy, switchy New York club coming off a 50-win season.
The 27-year-old Milton is the most talented new addition to the trade. A 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of SMU, Milton was once a key reserve on some talented Philadelphia 76ers teams from 2018-23, before a prolific 2023-24 season that saw him play for three separate squads in the Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and finally New York. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau barely used him, and Milton averaged just 1.8 points, a rebound and 0.7 assists across his six games with the franchise.
For his career, Milton boasts career averages of 8.6 points on .451/.358/.827 shooting splits, 2.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds a night. On a rebuilding Brooklyn team, Milton should enjoy a fairly outsized role.
Diakite, 27, is a journeyman backup big. Since 2021, the 6-foot-9 Virginia product has logged time with the Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, and Knicks. Across just 55 games in his four career seasons, Diakite boasts career averages of 3.1 points on 48.3 percent shooting from the field, 2.3 rebounds and 0.5 blocks a night.
The 6-foot-8 Bates-Diop could be a fringe rotation piece for New York, depending on how the team spends the rest of its free agency. Across 283 career contetsts (67 starts), he boasts career averages of six points, three rebounds and 0.9 assists. The Ohio State product has suited up for the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Spurs, Phoenix Suns, and Nets.
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Newsweek contributing writer Alex Kirschenbaum is a hoops fanatic who has managed to parlay his passion into a writing career. ... Read more
