8 major winners and losers from a frenzied first two weeks of free agency

Winners: New York Knicks

The New York Knicks didn't even wait until the start of free agency to make a big splash when they traded five first-round picks and Bojan Bogdanovic to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Mikal Bridges. That deal makes the Knicks a huge winner and puts them in contention to have the best record in the NBA next season and to win it all. Bridges will now be paired with his teammates from Villanova: Jalen Brunson, Donte Divincenzo, and Josh Hart.

While the Knicks did lose center Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder, they still have Mitchell Robinson and may be in the market for another center to shore up their front court. Fortunately, they were able to re-sign OG Anunoby and also still have all-star Julius Randle, who has become something of an afterthought after missing the last three months of their season.

Then their is Brunson, who took a major hair cut in the short-term allowing the Knicks to stay relatively cheap compared to other contenders.

A lineup of Brunson, Bridges, Anunoby, Randle, and Robinson, with a bench including Hart and Divincenzo, would be extremely tough to beat with few weaknesses. Considering the Boston Celtics are the team to beat in both the Eastern Conference and the NBA, the Knicks will be compared to them to see how they'd match up. At the moment, the Knicks should be confident that they can go toe-to-toe with Boston.