Charlotte Hornets: Was Miles Bridges the right pick?

The Good News

I don’t usually like to use comparison players to explain prospects. Oftentimes, it ends up telling you more about your feelings toward the comparison player than the prospect you’re actually trying to look at. For Bridges, I make an exception: he has so much Justise Winslow in him it’s crazy.

Their bodies are about as identical as two high-caliber athletes can be. 6’6-7″ with OK length. 95%-ile athleticism. Elite jumping ability. Stocky frames at a young age, but they don’t play in the post. Solid decision-makers with the ball and without. Above-average defenders but lacking the ability to truly protect the rim like a Jorden Bell or consistently lock down anyone on the perimeter like MKG. Both can credibly switch screens 2-4. And they’re even both fricken left-handed.

Here’s the key difference, though: each has a primary skill that the other lacks. Bridges is a poor dribbler, and Winslow has a “broken” jump-shot.

This is exciting news in my opinion. Ask any coach in the world what the most overrated skill in the world is and they will mostly respond the same way: “dribbling.” It’s a super valuable skill, of course, but is drastically less important for a wing in 2018’s NBA than shooting (and it’s even less important if Bridges plays at the 4, which feels likely to be at least his secondary position if not his primary one).

I don’t want to get too team-specific right now, but the two players’ situations are actually fairly similar.

Imagine this: your team has a near-elite point guard who can pretty much do it all offensively and runs the show from night to night. You have several solid role players at the 2-guard and wing spots, and a logjam of big men with various strengths and weaknesses.

Now, what team was I describing: the Miami Heat or the Charlotte Hornets? And what could each team really use? A do-it-all wing who can shoot (every team in the league could use that, but you get what I’m saying).

So is it any wonder that Josh Richardson (a converted 2-guard with a career .376 3-point %) took over Winslow’s minutes last season (33.2 vs. 24.7)? The Small-Ball Revolution is real, and guys who play between the 2 and 4 spots must be able to shoot.

Otherwise, they risk losing out on their role and a whole lot of cash. MKG would be making $26 million per year instead of $13 million if he could shoot 35% from 3-point land (rather than, say, .000%).

Does the same hold true for dribbling? Of course not. The Rockets pay Ryan Anderson $20 million per year because he can shoot well. If he was a really good dribbler without a jump shot would he even have a roster spot in this league? I’m not so sure.

Thankfully, Bridges’s shot is not broken. In fact, his 3-point shooting stroke and free throw shooting–a college statistic that is notorious for rooting out who will and will NOT develop into a good shooter in the NBA (**cough, cough** Kawhi Leonard)–improved markedly from his freshman to sophomore years. His FT % went from .685 to .853–that’s a pretty incredible difference.

Playing in a league where space comes at a premium, the improved diversity and consistency of Bridges’s scoring in his second year at MSU may be the best thing to ever happen to him as a player. Lots of encouraging signs there.