Report: Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans inquired about Mikal Bridges

According to Matt Moore of Action Network, the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans are two teams who inquired about Brooklyn Nets wing Mikal Bridges.

“The Pelicans are also known to have made a serious offer for Mikal Bridges and were likewise rebuffed,” Moore wrote. “Two league sources said the Nets have claimed multiple offers of five first-rounders for Mikal Bridges, but I’m pretty skeptical on that front. One, it might be five ‘firsts’ with swaps and/or heavily protected picks, and if the offer was really five firsts, why share that and then continue to say they are not interested in trading Mikal Bridges?”

It certainly seems like plenty of teams would love to get ahold of Bridges, but that’s proving to be a tall task.

“The Jazz, sources say, called the Nets to inquire about Mikal Bridges, though they found the same impossibly high bar to clear in return,” Moore wrote.

Bridges is in his second season playing for the Nets franchise and was a major part of the deal that sent Kevin Durant from Brooklyn to the Phoenix Suns a season ago.

The 27-year-old — who is widely recognized as one of the more durable players in the NBA — has yet to sit out a game for the Nets in the 2023-24 regular season and is averaging 21.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game on 45.5 percent shooting from the floor and 36.9 percent from 3-point range.

He faced off against his former team, the Suns, in the Nets’ most recent game on Jan. 31 and finished with 21 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal while converting six 3-pointers in 40 minutes of play. But Bridges’ performance wasn’t enough to earn the Nets a win, as Brooklyn lost to the Suns by 16 points to fall to 19-28 on the season.

After a respectable start to the season, the Nets have been one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference lately. Brooklyn has lost seven out of its last 10 games and is outside of the postseason picture as the No. 11 seed in the conference. The Nets are 1.5 games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the conference’s No. 10 seed.

Considering that the Nets seem headed for mediocrity once again this season, Bridges’ name may continue to bounce around in trade rumors before the Feb. 8 trade deadline. But because the Nets reportedly have such a high asking price for him, it also is possible that he will remain a member of the Nets past next week.

After playing the Philadelphia 76ers on the road on Saturday, the Nets will begin a five-game home stand on Feb. 5.