Charlotte Hornets: Was Miles Bridges the right pick?

The NOT Good News

So what about the dribbling thing? For reference, Winslow was a dominant foul-drawer in college, and Bridges was below-average with a FT/FGA of .245 compared to Winslow’s .438 (even human-toothpick Malik Monk managed a .323 FT/FGA at UK).

So is Bridges’s dribbling a problem? Well, yes. It is. Guys who cannot dribble well don’t get fouled enough, and they turn it over too much against the NBA’s high-level perimeter defenders (of whom there are enough to stress your team on a near-nightly basis.

Rather than constricting into the paint against a non-shooter like we see defenses do against Winslow, a non-dribble threat like Bridges may experience more 100% close-outs since defenders are willing to bet they can stop him if he puts the ball on the floor. Miles has shown an aptitude for attacking close-out defenders in college, but he rarely played against the kind of athletes the NBA will throw at him in droves.

And, despite playing in a “positionless” NBA, he also has a few positional issues that stem from his limited skill set and unusual physical profile that could really limit his star potential. He is large for a wing but small for a power forward. Great, right? He is a “mismatch” for the other team.

Sort of. A few problems with the “mismatch” idea: he doesn’t actually use his size to bully other smaller wings, so it’s not as much of an advantage as you might assume. He is simply not a post scoring threat at the moment and has not shown any willingness to play with his back to the basket.

“But, Noah, it’s 2018. Nobody scores in the post. Everyone is a shooter now.” Tell that Jimmy Butler or Tobias Harris who use their size advantages to absolutely feast upon smaller players who get switched onto them.

Additionally, Bridges is hyper-athletic but so are the guys he’ll be tasked with guarding at the 3-spot. His fellow MSU alum Draymond Green has no issue keeping up with everyone in the league, but he has the wingspan of a Pterodactyl. Bridges has 5″ less on his arms than Green, and his muscles will not make up for his lack of elite footspeed and length on the perimeter.

What about playing as a 4? Well, theoretically, he would have the upper hand in the speed and quickness departments over power forwards in the NBA today. Again though, his dribbling limits his ability to take advantage of his physical gifts, and he’ll be left vulnerable against slower power forwards who will take him into the post at will.

Just imagine you’re Derrick Favors of the Utah Jazz. You’re probably considered an above-average power forward, but you’re certainly not a star player. Miles Bridges is guarding you. You have 4″ in heigh, 7″ in wingspan, and nearly 40lbs on him. Sure, you’ll struggle to keep up with Bridges on the perimeter, but you’re posting him up at every opportunity on the offensive end.

Suddenly, the picture of Bridges’ potential struggles in the NBA start to come out. Right now, he doesn’t have the offensive “move vocabulary” to take advantage of his physical gifts at the 3-spot, and he doesn’t have the handle or 40%+ 3-point shot to be a deadly assignment at the 4-spot. It’s great having no position…until it’s not.