CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's understandable, since it takes more than a decade of context and fan angst to fix it, but Josh Hart was partially wrong in defending the Mikal Bridges trade.
First, he was absolutely right when he said that “no one would care” about the cost if the Knicks won. Ending a 52-year drought with a blanket exemption, even ownership, and with the Celtics still roaming the Eastern Conference, even if winning a title feels like a pipe dream. , we value the ambition of the heart.
But what Hart did wrong was to ignore the draft picks sent to the Nets as just “five 12th graders.” For a very long time, they were more than theoretical rookies in high school. Just ask any Nick fan old enough to remember Kurt Rambis' Twitter likes (note: Rambis says he was hacked).
Those picks were desired by Donovan Mitchell, Joel Embiid, Dame Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson, Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis. These were either the biggest reasons to believe the Knicks could rise to the top of true title contention under Leon Rose, or the biggest reasons to believe the Knicks could bounce back from the dark days of the late 2010s. .
