Nets Have 'Enormous Victory' After Mikal Bridges Trade

Sending Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks in a blockbuster trade has helped the Brooklyn Nets.

Oct 9, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges (1) shoots against Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) during the first half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Brooklyn Nets have had a transformative offseason entering a new era after trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks.

Before the deal, the Nets were on a train going nowhere with no control of their draft picks and failing to sniff the postseason at the same time. That's why trading Bridges was important. It was also the rationale behind CBS Sports writer Sam Quinn giving the Nets an "A" for their offseason report card.

"They cleverly structured Nic Claxton's four-year, $97 million extension to decline in salary each year. It won't even be worth 10% of the salary cap in its final season," Quinn writes. "They took a wise swing on a former top-10 pick in Ziaire Williams, and new coach Jordi Fernandez is a well-known developer of talent. There's still work to be done here. Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith should be traded before opening night. Even if there might be better offers on the table in February, nothing is more important to the Nets than the value of their own picks."

The Nets still have work to do with a number of tradable veterans still on the roster, but they have time to operate.

"Getting any remotely valuable veterans off of the team as quickly as possible should be the priority. But those are easy enough trades to make," Quinn writes. "Brooklyn's long-term outlook is substantially brighter today than it was in May and June. This offseason was an enormous victory for the Nets."

Ultimately, the Nets are now in a new phase of their rebuild and they have permission to fully go in and develop the young talent that they have in hopes of more coming down the pipeline.

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