The Brooklyn Nets are still in the early stages of their offseason as they are looking to make significant moves this season to speed up the process of the rebuild. Brooklyn has had various players come through the organization as the team is trying to find a way back to playoff contention and one of their former players helped their team advance in the 2025 NBA playoffs.
Former Nets guard Mikal Bridges helped his New York Knicks beat Dennis Schroder, also formerly of the Nets, and the Detroit Pistons on Thursday to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Bridges put up 25 points, four rebounds, and three assists in the 116-113 win and he was the second-leading scorer to Jalen Brunson’s 40 points to go along with his four rebounds and seven assists.
Bridges ended up in New York prior to the beginning of this season as Brooklyn traded him to the Knicks in exchange for a bevy of first-round picks that could help the Nets accelerate the rebuilding process. Schroder ended up with the Pistons after starting this season with the Nets before being traded to the Golden State Warriors, leading Golden State to trade him to Detroit in February.
Bridges, 28, has seen his numbers drop since his days with the Nets due to a reduction in his role, but he is also playing in the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 season when he was still with the Phoenix Suns. During his time in Brooklyn, Bridges averaged 21.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 44.7% from the field and 37.3% from three-point land.
Schroder, 31, played some of the best basketball of his career while with the Nets as he averaged 16.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 43.7% from the floor and 39.9% from deep. Schroder’s season is over and he will be a free-agent this summer after playing the final year of the two-year, $25 million deal that he signed with the Toronto Raptors in July of 2023.