Former Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop is on the move again in the NBA, as the Brooklyn Nets dealt him across the Hudson River to the New York Knicks as part of a massive trade that sent wing Mikal Bridges to New York in exchange for three players and five first-round picks. The trade was first reported on June 26 but was made official on Saturday.
The Knicks will be the fifth team Bates-Diop, 28, has played for in the NBA since being selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 48th overall pick of the 2018 NBA draft out of Ohio State. The forward played two seasons with Minnesota (2018-20), seven games with the Denver Nuggets (2019-20) and three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs (2020-21) before spending time with both the Phoenix Suns and Nets in 2023-24, averaging 6.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists across 283 career games.
Bates-Diop’s best and most stable stint in the NBA was with the Spurs, where he played 156 games and started 56 for the five-time NBA champion franchise, averaging 6.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.3 blocks while also shooting 50.6 percent from the field. His success in San Antonio helped earn him a two-year, $5 million deal with the Suns last summer.
Bates-Diop was poised to contest for the starting forward position this past season in Phoenix alongside superstars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, but he settled for a mostly bench position in his brief time with the franchise — starting just eight games and averaging 4.5 points 2.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game across 39 appearances — before being dealt to Brooklyn in February as part of a three-team trade.
Bates-Diop struggled in his brief time in Brooklyn, however, averaging 1.6 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game in just 4.9 minutes per game across 14 appearances.
The former Buckeye forward will now look to revitalize his NBA career on a New York Knicks squad that is loaded with top talent at the forward and wing position, with Bridges, three-time all-star Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Alec Burks and Precious Achiuwa all in line for extended minutes at those positions next season ahead of Bates-Diop.
Bates-Diop was a standout forward at Ohio State from 2014-18, starting 70 of his 109 appearances and averaging 11.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.2 blocks per game across his four-year Buckeye career. His best year came his senior season under head coach Chris Holtmann in 2017-18, where he logged a career-best 19.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 blocks per game while winning Big Ten Player of the Year and consensus All-American honors.
