How could a Warriors-Clippers deal work?

For years, every decision the New York Knicks made was part of a grander plan.

They would trade a draft pick today for one tomorrow because they believed a future first-rounder held more value in a trade for a star. They would acquire middling, tradeable contracts, refuse to let go of their picks and obsess over maintaining flexibility for trades.

Knicks minutiae became its little sub-story.

If they acquired Bojan Bogdanović, it wasn’t just to help the current roster but also because a partially guaranteed salary in 2024-25 would be helpful in a mega-trade — as they’ve just proven. If they negotiated a big-time swap for OG Anunoby, talk would follow about their fight not to include a first-rounder, hoping to keep the powder dry for someone else.

Ever since team president Leon Rose took over the front office in 2020, this has been the plan. The Knicks didn’t just want a star. They knew how they would get him, too: In a trade.

Four years later, that trade has finally occurred.

The Knicks acquired former Brooklyn Nets wing Mikal Bridges late Tuesday evening in a deal that almost makes too much sense. Bridges is an ideal fit inside New York’s current core — and not just because he’s now the fourth member of the “Nova Knicks,” the quartet of Villanova alumni that will be all the rave.

Bridges is a knockdown spot-up shooter, can act as a secondary source of offense, can drain catch-and-shoot 3-pointers alongside Jalen Brunson and is a prime-aged, versatile wing who already has an NBA All-Defense appearance on his résumé.

The Knicks have pulled off their blockbuster. And that means, for the first time in more than four years, judging the success of a move requires new context.

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