"Y'all was tampering" - Bam Adebayo jokingly accuses Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson after Mikal Bridges' trade
Bam Adebayo has jokingly accused Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart of tampering after the New York Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets. Bridges reportedly requested to get traded to the Knicks, where his former Villanova teammates play.
In a post on his official X account, Adebayo tagged Brunson and Hart to accuse them of tampering. The two Knicks players being good friends with Bridges might make it fishy but it was the player who wanted to get traded to New York.
"@jalenbrunson1 @joshhart y'all was tampering!" Adebayo wrote.
Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart received the accusation, and both had a different reaction. Brunson told Bam Adebayo to chill, while Hart laughed and told the Miami Heat player to let them Villanova boys celebrate without any hiccups.
"Chilllll," Brunson wrote.
"Let us celebrate in peace! 😂 " Hart replied.
According to Ian Begley of SNY, Mikal Bridges requested a trade to the New York Knicks earlier this week. The Brooklyn Nets didn't have to trade Bridges because he had two years left on his contract. His camp wanted to use it as leverage against other teams, saying that he would only sign with New York.
One of the reasons why the Nets pulled the trigger anyway was that the Knicks' offer was too good to pass up. Bojan Bogdanovic doesn't move the needle but he was there for salary purposes.
It was the haul of picks that swayed Brooklyn. They will get four first-round picks, an unprotected first-round round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks, an unprotected future first-round pick swap and a second-round pick.
That's a total of five first-round picks and a bonus second-rounder. The Nets are slowly building a nice haul of assets moving forward following the trades of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving in the past two years.
Knicks still interested in OG Anunoby despite Mikal Bridges trade
The New York Knicks still have some serious questions after the Mikal Bridges trade. The Knicks will need to re-sign OG Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein who are both expected to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the month.
Ian Begley of SNY provided an update on what the Knicks will do next and in free agency. The team's priority is to bring back Anunoby, who they acquired from the Toronto Raptors at the trade deadline.
As for Hartenstein, the Knicks might get outpriced by a lot of teams interested in the lefty big man. With multiple teams looking to sign the 26-year-old center, New York will need to find cheaper options so that the roster can remain flexible entering next season.