It has been a difficult season for the Charlotte Hornets, with injuries playing a big part in turning this team from a playoff hopeful to a lottery-bound squad once again. But throughout the 2024-25 campaign, one of the biggest positives has been the play of Miles Bridges.
Early on in the season, Bridges' play was a bit more inconsistent than fans were used to seeing. Then in November, knee issues sidelined him for 13 games before he returned in December. Since then, he has gone back to being one of Charlotte's most consistent players offensively. Miles' scoring average is up over 20 points per game for a third consecutive season.
This is the kind of output Hornets fans have come to expect from Bridges, and he continues to deliver. But of even greater note is the progression he has made defensively. Miles has said for multiple seasons that he wants to take a leap on that end of the floor, and one metric proves that he has made significant progress this season.
Best Defensive Field Goal Percentage (DFG%) For The 2024-25 NBA Regular Season (Min. 400 Total DFGA) :
— Stat Defender (@statdefender) March 2, 2025
1. Amen Thompson — 40.5%
2. Miles Bridges — 40.7%
3. Lu Dort — 40.8%
4. Kevin Durant — 41.0%
4. Jaime Jaquez Jr. — 41.0%
6. Peyton Watson —… https://t.co/4qowbFycOu pic.twitter.com/PicZwY0Fss
Bridges holds one of the top defensive field goal percentages this season
Headed into Monday night's contest with the Golden State Warriors, Bridges held the second-best defensive field goal percentage of any player in the NBA, according to Stat Defender. He ranked just ahead of players like Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lu Dort, and was behind only Amen Thompson in the category.
This kind of progression is big for Bridges' continued development as a whole. Given that he turns 27 later this month, Miles is technically just in the beginning stages of his athletic prime, which is a wild thing to think about given his career highlight tape to this point. If he is starting to reach a new level defensively that he can maintain for years to come, that could change things for Charlotte.
It would be hard not to view Bridges as a long-term piece for this franchise if he is able to continue producing as a scorer while also changing his defensive reputation to that of a high-end defender. Time will tell, but this could be a promising development for the Hornets.