What are the Charlotte Hornets going to do with Miles Bridges? Entering the season, he was supposed to be their third-best player, but he is a huge reason they have found themselves trailing by double digits at halftime for the third consecutive game. Trading him might not yield much at this point, and benching him could be bad for team chemistry. For now, keeping Bridges on a short leash may be the best solution.
Against the Washington Wizards on Sunday, the Hornets were down by 11 after two quarters, with the veteran forward recording just four points on 2-7 shooting at that point. A timely and unexpected sermon by LaMelo Ball put some fire in Bridges, though, resulting in an utter domination of the Wizards after intermission.
However, there was no such rally against the Miami Heat on Tuesday. A 16-point deficit at halftime ballooned to a 27-point loss at the end of the contest, with Bridges and the rest of Charlotte's frontcourt allowing Jaime Jaquez Jr., Bam Adebayo, and Andrew Wiggins to combine for 75 of the Heat's 144 points.
Bridges should not have to shoulder all the blame, but as the Hornets' elder statesman, he has to lead the squad by example on both ends of the court. Unfortunately, he has been disappointing on offense and defense.
Hornets have to make Bridges earn his minutes
For some reason, the 27-year-old forward's shots are not falling. In Charlotte's first four matches, he shot just 39.3 percent from the field. For a guy who has banked on his athleticism to carve a career in the NBA, it might be a bad omen that he has been missing a lot inside the paint. He even botched three dunks in the first half of their recent loss versus the Orlando Magic. And it's not as if he has an efficient outside shot to rely on, as he is shooting around 31.0 percent from three for the second straight campaign.
Bridges should be able to make up for it by being a plus-defender, but that has not happened either. He can often be seen ball-watching on defense, which has sometimes resulted in his assignment getting free or wiggling inside for an offensive rebound.
The call on the organization to trade its longest-tenured player has grown louder, though his value is so low that he might not be worth a first-round pick or at least multiple second-rounders. Shipping him now might not be in the front office's best interest. Instead, it should probably wait until later in the campaign, in case his value shoots up, and when more players from other teams are eligible to be traded.
Demoting Bridges from the starting lineup might also be a terrible idea, given his stature in the franchise and because he seems to be a beloved figure in the locker room.
The best the Hornets' coaching staff can do then is just continue starting Bridges to see if he has the hot hand for the night, but let him ride the bench if he is making a negative impact on the floor.
With Charlotte looking like it is still some ways away from becoming a consistently competitive squad, particularly against stronger opponents, and getting Grant Williams back, it may be time to experiment with lineups featuring a twin-tower combination of Ryan Kalkbrenner and Moussa Diabate or a small power forward with Liam McNeeley or Sion James manning the position.