Miles High: The Miles Bridges Thread

[Diop]

my main gripe with Miles is I dont think he has it mentally to be a good defender. that terrible awareness aint improving.

still want to sign him though.

he said he would work on his driving game this offseason, I think thats where his best value is, using his mobility against opponent bigs. used to love some of his tough finishes

[GoBobs]

Bridges is just kind of mid. Average offensive efficiency, and maybe the best thing about his scoring is good volume and some ability to create. He was 8-17 on average last year though. He doesn't really create easy shots for others like LaMelo does.

He isn't a bad defender but he doesn't play super hard on that side of the ball either. He doesn't box out well. He isn't good enough to be a star who doesn't play hard on defense or box out.

Nothing about his production says 25 million plus unless you are just going to hope that he gets better becasue he is still reasonably young.

On top of all that he has off the court drama that not only caused him to miss a whole year, but even after he got another shot he violated his probation doing the same dumb ****. If you can't trust a guy to hold it together on a one year prove it deal, you sure can't trust him with a long guarenteed contract.

You can replace a lot of his minutes with a Grant Williams, give some of the extra shots to Brandon Miller and there wouldn't be a big drop off. Grant is more efficient on offense, plus he plays defense and boxes out. Brandon Miller is kinda mid himself in the offensive efficiency department, but at least he is younger and cheaper.

If you sign Bridges to 25-30 mil for four years then before that contract is up we will also have to give new contracts to Brandon Miller and Mark Williams while LaMelo himself is making 35-45 mil. It is better to let a mid level player walk than to pay him like a star.

[SWedd523]

Miles and his agent are going to be demanding the max and not a penny less in concession for the team standing by him during his year+ of poor life choices and 3 years of handcuffing the team's salary cap space.

He should've been traded during the season but now they're stuck acquiescing and hoping he can live up to or it be traded for minimal loss down the line

What should be your 3rd or 4th option should not be making max-or-close-to-it salary for obvious reasons but here we are

[amcoolio]

Miles and his agent are going to be demanding the max and not a penny less in concession for the team standing by him during his year+ of poor life choices and 3 years of handcuffing the team's salary cap space.

He should've been traded during the season but now they're stuck acquiescing and hoping he can live up to or it be traded for minimal loss down the line

What should be your 3rd or 4th option should not be making max-or-close-to-it salary for obvious reasons but here we are

He's at least worth more money than PJ Washington, because we've seen it. But he should not make more than 25M a year. The Hornets are gonna get dragged however much they pay him.

I'm hoping the market is tepid for Bridges and we get him for less than we thought like PJ

[Diop]

Miles is not a good defender

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

he can play defense when facing down someone but he continually gets lost in team defense as he is just dumb that way.

[EmpireFalls]

2022 Bridges could play defense

[Liver_Pooty]

I don't think the conversation should be about overall dollars but guaranteed money. You can't guarantee 140 million to a guy with his history. Same with Kevin Porter or whatever with Houston.

[Liver_Pooty]

Only Hornets fans would think man we have a top 75 player in Brandon Miller. We are ready to compete, let's get Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball outta town and surround Brandon with role players and we can win a title lol.

and I love Brandon

lol, who is saying that?

I haven't even read this thread fully and I can think of one guy.

[JMAC3]

Miles is a bad off the ball defender, he is too much of a ball watcher.
but overall he is about average, 45% epm defensively last year.
Which again isn't awesome, but he also can give you 20 ppg, so how hard do you want to hate on him for not being great 2 way guy.

Where he excels on defense is 1 on 1, because he has a good mix of size, strength and quickness to where if he gets switched onto a guard he can at least stay in front, he has the size to at least give guys like Barnes, Paolo some pushback.. and if he ends up on center he isn't completely worthless. So he is a versatile switch guy, but again he gets lost off the ball and sometimes in transition he is bad.

Those feel like things that in a real playoff series you hope he can lock in a bit more.

[JustBuzzin]

I get why some fans may want to move on and start fresh, but he's key to our off-season. Despite what some may think this dude has talent. If we bring him back he doesn't have to be a long-term situation. He's a guy as could use as a trade piece in the future with the extra picks we have in the future.

Unless he's asking for crazy money there is no reason why we shouldn't bring him back. We are not getting anyone in FA better than Bridges point blank.

[dmutombo321]

Patrick Williams being mentioned as a cheaper contingency option if Bridges leaves.

https://oldnorthbanter.com/posts/hornets-view-former-first-round-pick-perfect-miles-bridges-replacement-01j0pbfczvnj

I've always liked him and felt he was mis-utilized with DeRozan, Vuc and Colby White dominating the ball and relegating Williams to being a lower volume spot up shooter. He's shown he has some creation capability but rarely gets the touches to avail himself in Chicago's system. He's a clear downgrade from Bridges offensively but is a better defender than Miles, younger and can shoot the 3.

First priority should be resigning Bridges (if it can be accomplished reasonably) but if some teams backs up the Brinks truck for Miles, I wouldn't be opposed to throwing an offer sheet at Williams just to see what happens. My only concern would be his foot which caused him to miss the end of last season. Obviously would want that medically vetted first.

Sent from my motorola edge (2021) using RealGM mobile app

[Bassman]

Regarding losing Miles and replacing with RFA Patrick Williams; they were talking about this on today’s Locked On Hornets podcast. They said (paraphrasing) that a smart strategy in free agency or in trades is taking a shot with 4 or 5 year guys who have shown talent and perhaps need that fresh move to take a next step up. Williams may fit that.

I also like a suggested mock trade from Cem Yolbulan on OldNorth Banter. Not sure how realistic it is, but we’d send Micic and Martin to the Lakers for Rui Hachimura. Quoting:

The Lakers get out of two more years of Rui Hachimura's contract that pays him a total of $35.2 million. Instead, they get a competent playmaker in Micic who can be a solid backup point guard for them, and Martin, who has shown that he can be a capable two-way forward when healthy. Los Angeles gets two rotation-level players in exchange for one. Both Martin and Micic's contracts expire at the end of next season, so they get additional financial flexibility.
Charlotte, on the other hand, takes a flyer on Hachimura. Despite being slightly overpaid, the 26-year-old forward has had some moments with the Lakers. He can be an insurance for Miles Bridges potentially departing and provide decent forward play in a position of need for the Hornets.

I really like Rui and feel he could give us near equal production to Miles. I would do that trade even if we keep Miles!

ANOTHER mock trade they discuss, again grain of salt here, is a swap of draft picks:

Hornets Trade Back for Future Flexibility in Projected NBA Draft Trade
Charlotte Hornets RECEIVE
2024 1st Round Pick (No. 12 Overall, Via Houston)
2025 1st Round Pick (Top Ten Protected, Via Miami)
2025 2nd Round Pick (Via Boston Or Memphis)

Oklahoma City Thunder RECEIVE
2024 1st Round Pick (No. 6 Overall, Via Charlotte)

Their rationale:

Oklahoma City has more draft picks than it has roster space and will likely want to cash in on their chips to move up. Since the Hornets aren't "one piece away" like the Thunder may be, they can afford to be patient.
Moving back to No. 12 would put Charlotte in the range of players like Providence G Devon Carter, Baylor SG/SF Ja'Kobe Walter, or Colorado SG/SF Cody Williams (who was named as one of those "perfect draft fits" mentioned earlier), according to ESPN's latest mock draft. Those might not be game-changing talents, though the Hornets' needs are so vast that one excellent player probably won't change the long-term outlook.

BTW - one report heard via major sports network claims Cody Williams has had excellent workouts and is now in the mix for being picked in the top 5…possibly via trade up or perhaps the Spurs at #4.

[GoBobs]

We need to just slow play things with Bridges. All the cap space teams ( there is only like 5) are going to sign other people and we will be left as the only team that can give him a deal more than the mid level exception. Then we will be in the drivers seat and have leverage just like we did with PJ.

If Det or some other team wants to break the bank and we lose him for nothing (very unlikely with his baggage), no huge loss. You can get a Grant Williams or a PJ Washington type in a trade.

[Bassman]

We need to just slow play things with Bridges. All the cap space teams ( there is only like 5) are going to sign other people and we will be left as the only team that can give him a deal more than the mid level exception. Then we will be in the drivers seat and have leverage just like we did with PJ.

If Det or some other team wants to break the bank and we lose him for nothing (very unlikely with his baggage), no huge loss. You can get a Grant Williams or a PJ Washington type in a trade.

Thing is, this year’s free agent PF market is very limited. A lot depends on what Klutch and Miles are asking for during exclusive negotiations happening right now. If they insist on massive overpay…renounce him and move on.

[Snidely FC]

As this article addresses the Miles conundrum among the options is to let him walk then absorb contracts for draft capital

Unless you really like Tobias Harris, Gary Trent Jr. or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and are happy to overpay, then there aren't many attainable players worth more than the mid-level exception to replace him.

More likely, the cap space would be used to absorb larger contracts in return for draft capital from teams trying to dodge the second apron. Andrew Wiggins (GSW), Pat Connaughton (MIL) and Nassir Little (PHX) are all candidates to be moved this summer. This would follow the Hornets pattern from the trade deadline where they traded for future guaranteed contracts in return for draft capital.

https://www.si.com/nba/hornets/free-agency-2022/navigating-miles-bridges-free-agency-comundrum-

[HornetJail]

you really only let him go if:

-you don't trust him to not repeat offend (in which case you should've traded him during the season or never given the QO to begin with... and now maybe you can recoup some menial value in a S&T)
-he gets a near MAX from someone (severely unlikely)
-you have a real shot at a top FA like Siakam

[Rich4114]

Let's look at it this way. Without the incident, going back two off-seasons ago would most of you have been upset if we retained him for the (at the time) max? I think a majority was on board with that or near that number, which was in the $30m range. So his basketball abilities have not regressed and if anything he's become more versatile showing a mid-range shooting game. What free agent are we signing for similar money? I'm 100% with JMAC on this one, it would be dumb to let him walk just to have cap space we can't use to get another player of his production. I'd expect there to be a clause that says if he has legal trouble, they can get out of it. But other than that, I'm really expecting a 4-5 year deal in the $28-30m range. Anything below that is a huge win for us.

[JustBuzzin]

If we plan on being a major player in future trades you absolutely bring Miles back. He's key to trading for a major player in the future. Right now Melo our only real big salary player. We need a major salary player to become players for the big name guys that become available.

Im 100% on the keep Miles bandwagon as we move closer to FA. Losing him for nothing would be flat out stupid. We lack talent, keep one of our more talented players.

[luciano-davidwesley]

If we plan on being a major player in future trades you absolutely bring Miles back. He's key to trading for a major player in the future. Right now Melo our only real big salary player. We need a major salary player to become players for the big name guys that become available.

Im 100% on the keep Miles bandwagon as we move closer to FA. Losing him for nothing would be flat out stupid. We lack talent, keep one of our more talented players.

The only scenario where it might be plausable to lose Miles is if he gets offered elsewhere/won't accept under $30 million plus AAV fully guaranteed and you aren't comfortable with that figure AND you are confident you can sign Patrick Williams for around $15-20 million AAV

[JustBuzzin]

If we plan on being a major player in future trades you absolutely bring Miles back. He's key to trading for a major player in the future. Right now Melo our only real big salary player. We need a major salary player to become players for the big name guys that become available.

Im 100% on the keep Miles bandwagon as we move closer to FA. Losing him for nothing would be flat out stupid. We lack talent, keep one of our more talented players.

The only scenario where it might be plausable to lose Miles is if he gets offered elsewhere/won't accept under $30 million plus AAV fully guaranteed and you aren't comfortable with that figure AND you are confident you can sign Patrick Williams for around $15-20 million AAV

Great now we literally have Melo/Miller as our only scorers.

What's the plan tank for Cooper Flagg?