Mikal Bridges came to the Phoenix Suns and provided the franchise hope in an impressive season for the former number 10 overall pick.
Mikal Bridges came to Phoenix in one of the more depressing ways in recent memory. Originally drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers, his hometown team, Bridges was then traded to the Phoenix Suns for Zhaire Smith and a future first rounder. Fortunately for the Suns, the former Villanova Wildcat has established himself as a young piece that gives Phoenix hope for the future.
Bridges has done nothing but impress since coming to Phoenix. His numbers don’t jump off the page. He has a low scoring total (8.4 points per game), didn’t provide much playmaking (averaging 2.1 assists) and doesn’t snag enough boards (only 3.2 rebounds per game).
Yet, Bridges strikes me as the perfect role player in a starting lineup. One that doesn’t complain about getting touches. One that isn’t afraid to knock down a three. One that can anchor a defense as well as a perimeter player can.
Bridges won’t be in the conversation for Rookie of the Year, but neither was the glue of the Golden State Warriors, Klay Thompson. He won’t suddenly morph into the Hell-Rider shooter that Klay becomes, raining down 60 points in one game on nearly zero dribbles. But Thompson is the kind of piece that Bridges is modeled after, a 3-and-D wing with more ball-dominant teammates.
He has a passable shot thus far (34% from three on nearly 4 attempts per game) and plays solid defense on a team in desperate need of it. He’s one of two players on the Suns with over 1,000 minutes and positive on/off court metrics on both sides of the ball (the other being Kelly Oubre Jr.). This is an impressive feat for a rookie learning the game on a tanking Suns team.
Bridges improved as he got more experience. He showed his playmaking abilities in a win in Miami, dishing out eight assists with only two turnovers.
He also showed out in a game against arguably the greatest team ever assembled earlier that month, scoring 19 against a full-strength Warriors team at home. He showed more decisiveness that night, upping his usage rate and doubling his shot attempts with the absence of Devin Booker.
Bridges naturally evolved throughout the season, piling on moments against good teams as the year progressed.
With more experience comes the hope of more growth for the 22-year-old. He needs to continue to expand his game through improving his outside shot and learning to create on offense. With that improvement comes more confidence, and hopefully more usage on offense.
Igor Kokoskov mostly running the offense through Booker and Deandre Ayton is a simple explanation for why the rookie wasn’t much involved. But when one of those two is off the court, or the offense stalls, Phoenix needs to be able to turn to Bridges as the third option.
Mikal will likely never reach the apex that Devin has. Nor does he have the potential of his draft classmate Deandre. Rather, he’s an ideal piece on a contending team.
He is Klay-esque in not causing problems and doing what he does best: defending like hell and knocking down threes. Bridges is the perfect role player looking to fit on a team full of (hopefully) future stars in Booker, Ayton, and their future first rounder.
The need for someone to fit seamlessly in that type of starting lineup is felt among many teams, but fortunately for the Suns, it won’t be the issue in this team’s future.