Charlotte Hornets Should Have Their Sights Set on Miles Bridges

With the playoffs out of the picture and the Charlotte Hornets set to get a lottery pick in the upcoming draft, the team can’t afford to miss with their selection.

The Charlotte Hornets haven’t had the best luck with their draft picks in the past decade or so. Aside from Kemba Walker and maybe Cody Zeller, the team has missed out on a quality player just about every year. With their pick destined to be in the lottery this season, they must make it count and take a player with not only loads of talent but also with a huge upside.

Luckily for Charlotte, this draft class is very deep and is stacked with intriguing prospects. One of them being Miles Bridges from Michigan State. The 6’6 forward is a bit of a tweener but there is no doubting his skill level. He has been considered a top-10 pick and a surefire lottery selection all year. The only question that remains is if he will declare for the NBA or stay at school as he has not yet made an official announcement.

One glaring problem with the Hornets and Bridges is that he may be off the board by the time the team selects depending on the way the ping pong balls fall in the lottery. If everything follows suit, record-wise, Charlotte would hold the 12th overall pick. Although nothing is official, DraftExpress.com has Miles going 11th to the Detroit Pistons.

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With the team no longer in contention for a postseason spot, they should consider losing their last few games in order to possibly have a worse record than Detroit and get a few more odds in their favor.

Looking more at Bridges though, he only played one season at Michigan State and he averaged 16.9 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game and 2.1 assists per game. He led his team in scoring, assists and blocks while being third in assists. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year shot 48.6% from the field and 38.9% from three. He has a bit of everything with strength, athleticism and even an outside shot.

While he isn’t considered a knock down three-point shooter by any means, there is that part of his game. Miles can also work to develop his shot while in the league. Considering that he is only 19-year old, there is plenty of room for growth. With how versatile Bridges is and the direction that the league is heading towards, he could play in small-ball lineups as a power forward.

There isn’t a whole lot not to love about Miles and his game. The one big question is what position he will play. His perimeter skills aren’t great just yet so he may struggle as a small forward but at only 6-foot-6 and around 225 pounds, he is undersized for the power forward spot. Aside from that, his skill level is up there with some of the best in this draft class.

Another reason why the Hornets should be looking closely at Miles is because of the position that he plays. He will likely be a small forward at the NBA level, even though he also played power forward in college, because of his size at 6-foot-6. He checks all the boxes for Charlotte’s needs.

The Hornets need more scoring and shooting on the court. With Michael Kidd-Gilchrist being arguably the team’s weakest offensive player because of his lack of an outside shot, Bridges could easily slide in for him at the starting small forward spot. Maybe not right away but after half a season of development or so, Miles could be a starter for years to come. Not only that, but he could also be the star the franchise has been searching for to pair alongside Kemba.

There is always the question of if a team should draft for need or just grab the best prospect available. In recent years, Charlotte’s needed a shooter but they’ve instead gone with big men like Frank Kaminsky and Noah Vonleh. They’ve passed on shooting wings like Bradley Beal and Devin Booker in the past few drafts alone.

The Hornets aren’t known for their risk taking in the draft. That could hurt their chances of taking a project like Bridges because while he is extremely talented, there is that bit of unknown that has put him at the lower end of the lottery.

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Despite those concerns, Charlotte should strongly consider drafting Miles. They don’t need another experienced, senior player through the draft. They need a young prospect who can potentially develop into a star one day and that is exactly what Bridges could be in the near future with the skill set he has.

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