There’s little question that Miles Bridges is a talented offensive player (although in recent years he benefited from the LaMelo Ball effect). The former Hornet averaged at least 20 points per game in three separate seasons while with Charlotte. But while his scoring punch is a selling point, the Phoenix Suns need him to up his game in one particular category: defensive rebounding.
Defensive rebounding was Suns’ Achilles heel. Can Bridges address it?
Although the Suns finished fourth in the NBA last season by hauling in 13 offensive rebounds per game — thanks largely to the exploits of Dan Majerle Hustle Award winner Jordan Goodwin’s glass-crashing off the bench — only the Brooklyn Nets averaged fewer defensive boards a season ago (29) when compared with the Suns (30.1).
Phoenix was great at creating second-chance opportunities on offense (ranking sixth in the league overall), but the Suns weren’t consistently effective at preventing those second chances on the other end. In fact, the Suns allowed 15.6 second-chance points per game last season, which ranked them in the bottom 10 in the league.
But now, with Bridges in the mix taking over the starting power forward slot, the Suns have a prototypical frontcourt player who can address that team weakness.
Bridge(s) the gap from small-ball lineups
Throughout a surprising 2025-26 season, the Suns relied heavily on small-ball lineups playing either Dillon Brooks or Royce O’Neale at the four spot. O’Neale’s outside shooting and Brooks’ relentless attack were solid on offense, but that pairing left the Suns undersized against most NBA lineups defensively. As a result, the defensive rebounding prowess in Phoenix left much to be desired.
Bridges has never been a truly elite, upper-echelon rebounder in his career despite his size and athletic ability. However, he was top 25 in the category as recently as the 2024-25 season when he maxed out with a career-high 7.5 total rebounds per contest. That mark fell off considerably last season, as Bridges averaged 5.8 rebounds per game. That was his lowest rebounding mark since his sophomore year in the NBA, all the way back in 2019-20.
To be fair, even his 5.8 rebounds per game would have ranked second on last season’s Suns behind only starting center Mark Williams. Nonetheless, Phoenix would really love to see a return of Bridges hauling in closer to seven boards per contest in his debut season in The Valley.
Playing 24 seconds of solid defense doesn’t mean all that much if teams aren’t then securing the defensive rebound to lock in a successful stop. Bridges has the skill to be a big difference-maker for Phoenix if he focuses on that aspect of his game.
With Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, a (hopefully) healthy Jalen Green, Collin Gillespie, and Mark Williams, the Suns have a number of options who can score the ball already. Bridges, meanwhile, can make a huge impact if he can lift Phoenix to being even middle-of-the-pack in the defensive rebounding department next season.
Fans will have to see if he's up to the task.
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