Miles Bridges

Bridges will be a polarizing player in fantasy drafts. He missed all of last season and will be suspended for the first 10 games of 2023-24 due to a felony domestic violence charge he pleaded no contest to last November. This summer, he signed a one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer to return to the Hornets. He broke out during the 2021-22 season, averaging 20.2 points on 49/33/80 shooting, 7.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.7 combined steals-plus-blocks in 35.5 minutes. The 2021-22 campaign was also a 43-win season for the Hornets, who won just 27 games last year in Bridges' absence, plus LaMelo Ball appeared in only 36 matchups. It's difficult to gauge how much ramp-up time Bridges will need before returning to form -- if he returns to form. The presence of Brandon Miller throws a variable into the wing minutes, but it remains to be seen how ready he is after a shaky Summer League. If circumstances were normal, it would be easy to say Bridges is worth a third or fourth-round selection. But that's not the case. His value is a mystery, but at some point in the later rounds, he needs to be drafted based on upside alone.

Bridges made steady improvement for a third straight season last year, and he was part of one of the most explosive and entertaining alley-oop connections in the league with LaMelo Ball. The biggest improvement in Bridges' game was improved efficiency. While his points per game dropped marginally from 13.0 to 12.7, the forward nearly shot 50/40/90, going 50/40/87. Aside from his 12.7 points, he averaged career-highs in 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists while contributing a nice 1.5 combined blocks-plus-steals. That allowed him to rank 95th on a per-game basis. Bridges also benefited from Gordon Hayward missing time, with Bridges drawing 19 starts in 66 appearances. However, Bridges might have trouble reaching the 29.3 minutes per game he saw in 2020-21. In addition to Hayward starting the season healthy, the Hornets added Kelly Oubre in the offseason, who has positional overlap with Bridges at small forward. The hope for Bridges is that P.J. Washington plays a lot of small-ball center, opening up the wing for Bridges to still find near-starter's minutes. Fantasy managers have justification to take Bridges inside the top 100, but there probably isn't much upside unless another forward suffers a significant injury.

The Michigan State product took a leap in his second season. Bridges started all but one game as a sophomore, and his minutes jumped from 21.2 to 30.7. He averaged 13.0 points, 5.6 boards, 1.8 dimes and 1.5 threes -- all career highs. His field goal percentage declined as he nearly doubled his shot attempts from his first to second seasons, though his efficiency from the free-throw line and from three saw small increases. Bridges flashed his upside as a scorer and rebounder in a 10-game stretch from Jan 30 to Feb 25 in which he averaged 19.4 points, 6.7 boards and 2.3 triples. He posted 10 games of at least 20 points (including a career-high 31 on Nov 22 against Washington) and four double-doubles. Bridges won't have an easy time finding playing time this season, however, as the Hornets signed Gordon Hayward. PJ Washington had a great rookie season as well and could prevent Bridges from getting on the court. Bridges probably only makes for a deep-league option this season.

The 12th overall pick in 2018, Bridges had a solid rookie season. Once the Hornets were clearly out of postseason contention, he was given more run, securing 25 starts and 10 games seeing at least 30 minutes. In those 10 games, Bridges averaged 12.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals. Though he was a low-usage player as a rookie, taking 10.8 shots per 36 minutes, he posted quality efficiency with shooting splits of 46.4 FG%, 32.5 3P% and 75.3 FT%. With the Hornets' two leading scorers from last season (Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb) moving on, Bridges may be asked to handle a bigger offensive burden in 2019-20. On one hand, based on Bridges' rookie year, we shouldn't expect him to turn into a volume scorer. On the other hand, someone has to take shots for this Hornets team, and it can't just be Terry Rozier and Nicolas Batum. It's tough to gauge what to expect from Bridges in Year 2, but it's nearly a guarantee he'll take on some sort of expanded role, making him an intriguing late-round flier.

Bridges, who played two seasons at Michigan State, was acquired via trade by the Hornets on draft night after being selected with the 12th overall pick by the Clippers. Voted Consensus All-American Second Team during his sophomore year, Bridges averaged 17.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists. He also shot 45.7 percent from the field and hit 2.1 threes per game at 36.4 percent. Though he shot just only 34.2 percent from the field in summer league, he showed off his versatility. In five games, he averaged 15.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks. Heading into his rookie campaign, Bridges should have the opportunity to compete for minutes at both forward spots, with immediate competition being Jeremy Lamb and Frank Kaminsky, who each saw sixth-man minutes last season. It’s unlikely he'll be Fantasy relevant in standard leagues, but could be worth keeping tabs on in the case of any injuries to rotational players on the Hornets.