The Nets made a tough decision to trade Mikal Bridges to the Knicks for a bevy of future draft picks, but Brooklyn GM Sean Marks said the trade came about quickly and that the forward was not the one who pushed for a move.
"Leon and I talked for a couple of days on this thing and it moved very, very quickly," Marks said Monday, adding that the two sides "were not sitting on this deal for really long at all."
"And you could tell how interested they were in adding Mikal to that group, which, obviously, that's been talked about for a variety of different reasons," he continued. "And Mikal didn’t know and so I called and told him, said, 'Hey, look we’re getting down here.'
"I think it’s been reported that Mikal wanted to leave or requested a trade. That could not be further from the truth. It’s just not in Mikal’s character, it’s not who he is. And that definitely did not happen."
The Nets’ GM added that he told Bridges about the trade when it was on the two-yard line.
Marks said there were "numerous factors" the organization looked at when determining if the situation and timing was right to execute the trade.
"It's a difficult decision because Mikal was a focal point of this organization for the last year since we did the trade," Marks said, referring to the mega-deal that sent Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline in Feb. 2023.
"Not an easy decision, but at the same time, when you have an offer like we did from New York, I think that sets us up on a very, very clear pathway to continue to build this team [for] sustainable success, and that’s the ultimate goal here," he said.
In the 27 games after the trade, Bridges looked to be taking a big step in his development, averaging 26.1 points (up from 17.2 during his first 56 games of the year) on 47.5 percent shooting in 34.2 minutes per game.
While Bridges was good in his lone full season in Brooklyn, he came back down to earth, maintaining his rebound and assist numbers, but averaging 19.6 points on 43.6 percent shooting in 34.8 minutes per game. The advanced numbers tell a clearer picture as his PER dropped from 21.3 to 14.9, his true shooting percentage dipped from .607 to .560, and his win shares per 48 minutes from .133 to .070.
When asked if anything he saw last year influenced his decision to move on from Bridges this offseason, Marks rejected that notion.
"He's a heck of a talent, there’s no question there, I wouldn’t even want to second guess Mikal," he said. "He’s a talented, talented young man, both on and off the court. Adds a heck of a lot to the locker room, your environment, pleasure to be around. Nothing's changed in that. Any team would be lucky to have him."