Does Knicks' trade for Mikal Bridges do anything to close the gap on Celtics?

The New York Knicks front office assembled all the Villanova infinity stones Tuesday night by acquiring Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets for a package that included Bojan Bogdanovic and four unprotected first-round picks.

New York made the move not only because of the great vibes that the addition of Bridges can bring — Josh Hart posted a photo of the new Knicks star hopping on a FaceTime call with his former teammates Tuesday night — but also because the move brings the Knicks further into the top tier of playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference.

Beyond generally contending with the rest of the Eastern Conference, trading for Bridges is a clear attempt to match the Boston Celtics with a two-way wing player who could counter Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in a playoff series.

But how much closer can the Knicks, or any other team, get to the Celtics this offseason? Adam Jones and Christian Arcand argued on Jones and Mego Wednesday that there are very few moves a contending team can make that will put them ahead of the Celtics. Listen to the full segment above.

“Right now they’re just creating Villanova from a few years ago,” Jones said. “I like Mikal Bridges. I don’t really care about the draft picks they gave up. But I don’t think that’s the kind of move that the Celtics need to lose sleep over.”

Arcand, however, argued that the move for Bridges was a market-setting deal for the league and the first of several “dominoes” to fall this offseason, leading him to take the field over the Celtics for next year’s title.

“I feel like this is going to be the first domino to drop. You’re going to see big names moved this offseason, lot of movement,” Arcand said. “I think that’s at least going to create a comparable super-team, and if there’s a comparable superteam, I’ll take the field.”

Beyond trades other teams can make or injuries on their roster, Jones said a bigger threat to the Boston’s dominance could be a feeling of complacency among its star players.

“We talked about this a lot, do the Celtics lose any drive after finally getting to the mountaintop?,” he said. “Tatum and Brown were supremely motivated to prove the doubters wrong. They’re still wearing t-shirts and trolling people, which is their right, I guess. They were supremely motivated to get that done…I think they had that drive last year. Can they repeat that?

“What are you pushing for? What’s your motivation? Is going back to back enough? Is becoming a dynasty enough? Or do they assume they can just roll the basketballs out and beat everybody? Because, let’s face it, that’s basically what they did this year.”

Still, Jones shrugged off the idea that moves to be made elsewhere in the league could disrupt the Celtics' status as the title favorite.

“If you want to talk about the second-best team in the East, the team below the Celtics, then come talk to me about the ‘Nova Knicks,” he said. “The Knicks are not that [super-team]. Would the Rockets be that team if they got Kevin Durant? Not for me…maybe Oklahoma City.”