Nets Use Former Knicks Pick on French Prospect

The French gave New York the Statue of Liberty as a gift in 1884. The Brooklyn Nets only had to turn to the New York Knicks to grant them a token of similar origin.

The Nets used the 19th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft to take French backcourt start Nolan Traore, a pick that belonged to the Knicks at one point in time. Such a selection was one of five first-round choices sent across town when the Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges last summer.

Traore, who partook in France's top level with Saint-Quentin BB, made a name for himself as an explosive playmaker and joins fellow Brooklyn import Egor Demin, a Russian prospect out of BYU who went eighth overall.

The 19th pick of the 2025 draft has had quite the journey: it originally belonged to the Milwaukee Bucks, who sent it to the New Orleans Pelicans in a deal that acquired future champion Jrue Holiday. From there, New Orleans sent it to Portland in a deal headlined by CJ McCollum's move to the Big Easy and also moving current Knick Josh Hart to the Pacific Northwest.

No. 19 landed in the Knicks' grasp during the 2022 draft: it began the night in Portland's possession before it was sent to Detroit in a deal headlined by Jerami Grant's arrival. The Knicks then got at as part of a salary dump, trading the pricey contracts of Alec Burks and Kemba Walker to the Motor City in an effort to build a free agency budget that eventually landed franchise face Jalen Brunson.

The rest, of course, is history, as the Knicks parted ways with the pick to reunite Bridges with his fellow former Villanova Wildcats Brunson and Hart. Though Bridges sometimes struggled to justify his massive price tag, he no doubt played an undeniable role in the Knicks earning their first Eastern Conference Finals berth since 2000.

Another former New York pick, their regularly scheduled selection at 26th overall will be used by the Nets later on Wednesday, their penultimate of five turns on the 2025 first-round ledger.

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