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HEIGHT: 6' 6.75"
WINGSPAN: 6' 9.5"
WEIGHT: 220 lbs
AGE: 20.16
POSITION: Forward
COLLEGE: Michigan State








Dean on Draft

Miles fits the 3 + D archetype perfectly, as his strength, athleticism, passing, rebounding, and shooting suggest that he will be a versatile role player in the NBA. His dimensions are too limited for him to be a perfect 4, but he nevertheless may have the strength and hops to succeed in that role defensively.

As a bonus, his burst and shake give him creation upside and all-star potential. Versatile role playing wings are valuable enough on their own, and when they come with a nice upside tail it is correct to draft them early and ask questions later.

94 Feet

Offense

Bridges may not be the most talented offensive
prospect on the board, but he is a jack-of-all-trades
who will fit in with almost any team in the lottery.
He is an effective cutter and a smart screener, both
underrated skills, and he has clean shooting
mechanics, which may allow him to stretch his game
after an adjustment period. He shines in transition,
both leading the break, where he has surprising
speed pushing the ball, and filling the lanes as a
rim-runner or a catch-and-shoot threat. He’ll need
to look to improve his playmaking ability, especially
once he’s no longer the focal point of the offense.

Defense

The strongest part of Bridges’ game is his versatility
on defense. He has displayed the capability to guard
and out-rebound larger players, making him an ideal
small ball big, yet still has the quickness to defend
wings on the perimeter. He also defends
intelligently without fouling. His conditioning is a
concern on the defensive side, where his effort
wanes on rotations when he has played for an
extended stretch. He will also need to improve his
pick-and-roll defense, where he often gives guards
too much space on his hedges.

the idea of using a lottery pick on a guy who projects to be a 3 and D player is mindblowing to me

and the idea that people who blasted cho for years for taking safe picks with low ceilings are cool with it is just as crazy

DY_nasty wrote:the idea of using a lottery pick on a guy who projects to be a 3 and D player is mindblowing to me

and the idea that people who blasted cho for years for taking safe picks with low ceilings are cool with it is just as crazy

Which non-3&D guys in our range are you interested in?

This is the guy I want. Wanted him last year and so glad we have a chance to grab him this year.

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Braggins wrote:

DY_nasty wrote:the idea of using a lottery pick on a guy who projects to be a 3 and D player is mindblowing to me

and the idea that people who blasted cho for years for taking safe picks with low ceilings are cool with it is just as crazy

Which non-3&D guys in our range are you interested in?

in the lotto? anyone else.

if you want a 3 and D guy trade the pick and stop the charade of playing it safe. draft a high ceiling dude and if he busts, he can learn how to be a role player when the time comes instead of celebrating the possibilities of low expectations. also the infatuation with 3/d guys is a problem too. beal and wall are one of the best back courts in the league and porter is statistically one of the best 3/d guys in the game - how'd that work out? covington? i'm not against the concept, i'm against the emphasis on their importance and their scarcity. not even getting into how they're offense enhancers not creators (which is what this team needs more than anything).

its also ironic to me too when we're talking 3 and D and marvin williams is literally on the roster and did a great job of it for years now.

any lottery guy that's tagline isn't 'great role player' and im all over it.

DY_nasty wrote:

Braggins wrote:

DY_nasty wrote:the idea of using a lottery pick on a guy who projects to be a 3 and D player is mindblowing to me

and the idea that people who blasted cho for years for taking safe picks with low ceilings are cool with it is just as crazy

Which non-3&D guys in our range are you interested in?

in the lotto? anyone else.

I'm not high on Bridges, but can you just name a few-3&D guys with allegedly high ceilings that are likely to be available at 11 that you would support taking?

I really don't understand what you are getting at other than you seem to think that being able to shoot 3s and play defense lowers a players ceiling...

I don't think Bridges will even be able to defend at the next level. He has an athletic upper body, so he can rebound and finish at the rim decently. But side to side he's a tank like Derrick Williams.

LofJ wrote:I don't think Bridges will even be able to defend at the next level. He has an athletic upper body, so he can rebound and finish at the rim decently. But side to side he's a tank like Derrick Williams.

This is my issue with him. I keep hearing a lot of mixed things about his lateral quickness and he definitely doesn't have the length to really be good at defending 4s (i wish he did the jump tests at the combine), so I'm skeptical of buying into him as a good defender. Seems like there is a good chance we'd be banking on his offensive potential, which might mean his ceiling is more like a sort of Tobias Harris or Jabari Parker-lite type of player, which is pretty good, but not exactly the kind of absolute ceiling you would want for an offensive oriented player in the top 11. Idk, though. Hes been one of the harder lottery guys for me to gauge along with Porter (injury concerns) and Trae Young (size/athleticism concerns).

Anthony Bennett?

His floor is versatile role player who can 3 & D, rebound and pass. To me, he's MKG with the ability to score big and stretch out to three point land. That's an all-star. And the write up states he has an all-star ceiling. You can't expect more in the late lottery. Nobody in our range has more than All-Star potential. He's confident and intense. I think he's a great fit. The young core needs a bully out there who won't be pushed around. Kemba and Monk are small. Batum is soft. Kaminsky is soft. Dwight will be gone. MKG can't shoot. Miles Bridges is going to step in and contribute right away. I would love to see Monk run open court with him. Borrego seems to want to run more and push the pace. This guy does just that. He's hungry for baskets.

It's kinda funny, since it was a slight surprise he returned to school last year, he's been routinely pegged as a just-outside-the-top-10 guy for two draft cycles now. We've only picked 11th twice in our history... each of the last two years. Kinda feels like fate.

Unpopular opinion: I really like Miles. Everyone wants an all-star with a lottery pick but you're doing a good job if you find a starter at 11. Good athleticism and measurables, good shooter, not really a playmaker but seems to have good passing instincts. Biggest thing working against him might be that the freshman shine has kinda worn off, it almost seems to benefit players more to break out late than it does to have two good years.

I cringe at all the "next Donovan Mitchell" takes, but Mitchell went late lottery for a lot of the same reasons. Namely, he was seen as a solid but low-ceiling sophomore prospect despite freakish athleticism, which is normally used as a barometer for potential. Now if teams think Miles is anything like Mitchell, he's going top 3. But he only needs to be a solid starter to justify pick 11.

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There is literally 1 statistical weakness in Miles' game, his low steal rate ... and I don't hold that against him due to Izzo's defense specifically avoiding them in favor of creating tough shots. See https://bballbreakdown.com/2015/03/27/michigan-states-major-defensive-adjustment/

It's almost impossible for us to tell who is going to make it and who will not, but I feel pretty good about Miles. He's one of the 3 guys I'm really hoping the team drafts if they keep the pick. I really like SGA for his fit, but I like Miles for his upside. If you want a non-guard scorer to pair with Kemba or Monk, Miles can be that guy and be a solid multi-positional defender as well.

His three point % was like 35% last season. Does he definitely get the "good shooter" label, even after that?

He gets the 'good enough' label.

Sure he wasn't shooting .435 like Mikal, but in a large sample size at good volume he did fine especially considering that this was not the only way he scored.

yosemiteben wrote:His three point % was like 35% last season. Does he definitely get the "good shooter" label, even after that?

I'm not trying to compare the two, but Donovan Mitchell shot 35% his sophomore season from three. There are guys who shot horrible from the 3 in college, off hand and without looking at stats, I want to say Kawhi, and then there are guys who shot really good at 3 and couldn't shoot in the pros, i.e., Derrick Williams.

And to the guy who said Anthony Bennett, there is no way Miles Bridges becomes a bust like him. He may end up being JAG, I think he'll be better, but Bridges is much more explosive, more athletic, and has more court awareness than Bennett. He's also got an NBA ready build, whereas Anthony Bennett looked like he was overweight, and then had trouble with endurance.

My biggest issue with Miles Bridges is his wingspan. I'm actually not too worried about his ball handling. I've seen much worse, and I see Bridges as a 3 with spot minutes at the 4 at the next level.

I think hes a certain upgrade who can take MKGS or Marvs minuets within 1 year and a half to 3 year span
He just turned 20.

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Lwcasu wrote:

yosemiteben wrote:His three point % was like 35% last season. Does he definitely get the "good shooter" label, even after that?

I'm not trying to compare the two, but Donovan Mitchell shot 35% his sophomore season from three. There are guys who shot horrible from the 3 in college, off hand and without looking at stats, I want to say Kawhi, and then there are guys who shot really good at 3 and couldn't shoot in the pros, i.e., Derrick Williams.

And to the guy who said Anthony Bennett, there is no way Miles Bridges becomes a bust like him. He may end up being JAG, I think he'll be better, but Bridges is much more explosive, more athletic, and has more court awareness than Bennett. He's also got an NBA ready build, whereas Anthony Bennett looked like he was overweight, and then had trouble with endurance.

My biggest issue with Miles Bridges is his wingspan. I'm actually not too worried about his ball handling. I've seen much worse, and I see Bridges as a 3 with spot minutes at the 4 at the next level.

Also Bennett went pretty much the whole year without playing against another pro player. The best guys he went head to head with was McAdoo and he struggled in that game. I am not in love with Miles as our pick but I don't think he will be complete bust.

yosemiteben wrote:His three point % was like 35% last season. Does he definitely get the "good shooter" label, even after that?

For some reason I have low shooting standards for the SF position.

He had much more success as a spot-up shooter than he did off the dribble, and I think he'll see a lot more of the former in the league.

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Yeah Mitchell shot lower on less attempts last season. I don't think he is pure shooter but he has shown enough to be effective. He also has the ability to attack a defender when they close out. He isn't my top choice but he would likely be one of the better fits if we try to retool around what we already have.

Pretty sure most people would consider Josh Okogie a reach at 11, which he probably is. However, he actually projects to be a good defender at the positions he will be guarding (1-3) and actually has good length for his position. Okogie shot slightly better from 3pt range on slightly fewer attempts and they have identical career FT% in college. We actually have some documentation of the extent of Okogies athletic prowess, which seems to be at least as good and likely better than Bridges. He drew fouls at a much higher rate and scored a bit more than Bridges on slightly worse efficiency (keep in mind Okogie was on a much worse team). They are both mediocre, but not bad, with their handle, playmaking ability, offensive feel, and finishing at the rim.

What exactly separates Bridges from someone like Okogie and makes him a future all star and Okogie just a 3&D prospect?