NBA Rumors: Shake Milton Gets $9M Nets Contract, Part of Knicks' Mikal Bridges Trade
July 4, 2024
The Brooklyn Nets are acquiring veteran guard Shake Milton in a sign-and-trade deal with the New York Knicks, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
Milton will sign a three-year, $9 million contract worth over the minimum for the 2024-25 season, which is the only year guaranteed on the deal, per Charania.
The sign-and-trade is part of the Knicks' trade of Mikal Bridges for Bojan Bogdanović and several NBA draft picks.
"The Knicks' preference was always to expand the Bridges trade, according to league sources. The team has modeled scenario after scenario, mapping out ways to avoid a hard cap at the first apron," The Athletic's Fred Katz reported. "When the Knicks and the Nets originally agreed to the deal, New York made it clear it would return at some point with more details, a league source familiar with the negotiation said."
Milton, a midseason acquisition from the Detroit Pistons, made six appearances as a depth option for the Knicks last season.
Milton saw limited use in New York, averaging 4.5 minutes per night during the regular season and 5.5 minutes in four playoff appearances while contributing 16 total points.
But he will end up playing a key role in the Knicks' ability to acquire Bridges as the team worked to solve the salary gap of approximately $4.2 million between Bridges' and Bogdanović's salaries for the 2024-25 season.
The sign-and-trade agreement that will send Milton to Brooklyn will help the Knicks send out enough salary to avoid the first apron of salary cap restrictions, per SNY's Ian Begley and CapSheets' Yossi Gozlan.
Ian Begley @IanBegleySource confirms NYK's Shake Milton & Mamadi Diakite will be sent to BKN as part of Mikal Bridges trade. Milton will be a sign & trade, which should get NYK enough total salary to avoid 1st apron hard cap. They had at least 1 other deal lined up entering FA to get out of hard cap
Yossi Gozlan @YossiGozlanMamadi Diakite's $2.3 million salary is non-guaranteed. It'll be partially guaranteed to around 50% of that amount to make this trade work.<br><br>Keita Bates-Diop doesn't count towards salary matching from the Knicks end since he's on a minimum salary.<br><br>Bojan, Shake, Diakite for Mikal… <a href="https://t.co/4Qc6xSulIf">https://t.co/4Qc6xSulIf</a>
In total, the Knicks will reportedly receive both Bridges and veteran forward Keita Bates-Diop in the trade.
The Nets will meanwhile reportedly acquire Bogdanović, Milton and Mamadi Diakite (h/t The Athletic's Fred Katz) alongside draft capital.
Those draft picks include four unprotected first-rounders between 2025 and 2031, a protected first-round pick in 2025, a second-round pick in 2025 and an unprotected pick swap in 2028, per NBA.com.
The Knicks were meanwhile able to hang on to backup guard Miles McBride, who has three years remaining on the extension he signed with the team in December.
The Knicks had "very little interest in trading" McBride, Begley reported.
Ian Begley @IanBegleyAs noted entering free agency, NYK had very little interest in trading Miles McBride. In addition to today's Milton/Diakite deal, Knicks, entering free agency, had at least 1 other deal lined up to avoid hard cap. When they made initial Bridges trade, they felt they'd be able to…
McBride, who averaged 8.3 points per game in 68 appearances last season before upping his production to 11.0 points through 13 postseason contests, will remain a key part of the Knicks' depth going forward as the team looks to make it past the second round next spring.