Why the Hornets should let Miles Bridges walk if ESPN's prediction comes true 

The Charlotte Hornets have a great core in LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Mark Williams moving forward, but one of the biggest questions they will have to face is whether or not Miles Bridges will be a part of it.

Bridges has a terrible, dark history off the court. One that should have him out of the league already. Alas, he’s still in Charlotte, and on the court, he’s a fine basketball player who was enjoying a ton of success before his off-the-court issues came up.

It would be in Charlotte’s best interest to rid themselves of Bridges as soon as they can, but considering they brought him back this season, they probably don’t have the same viewpoint on the matter.

However, ESPN’s latest prediction gives them another obvious reason for them to avoid bringing Bridges back.

ESPN's contract prediction for Miles Bridges should make Hornets want to let him walk

Bobby Marks of ESPN recently put together a full free agency preview for every single team in the league, and in his rundown for the Hornets, he predicted what Bridges’ new contract could look like.

He noted that if he were the Hornets, he would offer Bridges four years, $105.5 million, which comes out to just over $26 million per season.

This past season, Bridges appeared in 69 games for Charlotte, starting 67 of them. He averaged 21.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists while shooting 46.2% from the floor and 34.9% from beyond the three-point arc.

The Hornets already have Ball, Miller, Williams, and Grant Williams under contract for at least the next couple of seasons, but signing Bridges to a contract worth that much money doesn’t make any sense.

First and foremost, Bridges’ history should make the Hornets walk away regardless. Being associated with that is embarrassing. So paying him $26 million a season in tandem with that is even worse.

But past that, it could be better for the Hornets to roll with Miller and Grant Williams as their starting frontcourt next to Mark Williams. Miller would get a larger offensive role, and the Williamses could anchor the defense.

Bridges should not be back in Charlotte next year, especially for that amount of money.