I also think some of you are over-rating Bridges. In Brooklyn, he had all the opportunity in the world, and he never made an All Star Game. His biggest draw is he plays a lot of minutes, but hasn’t been in the top ten in any category except turnovers.
Maybe he’ll be more valuable as a third option on a good team than a first option on a bad one? I think people became fascinated with him 4 years ago, when there weren’t as many 3-and-D players on the league, and they (smartly) haven’t watched the Nets much over the last few years.
Hoopshype Ranked him #60, and had this write up
2023-24 stats: 19.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.0 spg, 0.4 bpg, 43.6 FG%, 37.2 3P% in 82 games
Salary ranking: No. 70 ($21,700,000)
When Mikal Bridges first got to Brooklyn, there was a lot of excitement about the leap he made from being a role player in Phoenix to being a first option for the Nets. Bridges wasn’t able to build upon that or even match the numbers he put up in his first half-season with the Nets (26.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 47.5 percent shooting) in 2023-24, falling to a slightly more mundane 20/4/3 stat line.
Regardless, those are solid numbers and his ranking on this list is right around what his salary is ranked league-wide, so star-leap-failure disappointment aside, Bridges remains one of the better two-way swingmen in the league with scoring prowess, especially from the midrange, and the ability to defend opposing stars on a nightly basis.