Prospect: Mikal Bridges, SF, Villanova, Two-Way Star

[davos]

Here's my pitch:

Bagley, Ayton, Trae Young, & Doncic - Top tier, we're not going to be bad enough to net any of those 4

Choice of target: Mikal Bridges

6'7 210, 7'1 wingspan  |  17 PPG, 6 RPG, 2 APG

2-way talent, elite defense, tremendous off the ball skills/awareness (which is rare to find in college), & is the bloodforce of the Nova team.  He has improved his 3 ball every year in school from the 30s to now 45%.  Shooting 55% from the field.  A two-way star who could be right there for us to pick around 7-10.  

He has elite length.  Being compared to Leonard and given MJ's infatuation with the Spur all-star, I think this could be the ideal fit.  

Article snip:

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If you follow me on twitter, you might have seen me ranting about Mikal “the better Bridges” Bridges for the past eight months. If you’re already sick of me talking about Mikal – the best player on the best team in college basketball – then skip ahead. But after seeing the growth from his sophomore to junior year, I fully believe Bridges will be a two-way stud at the NBA level.

On offense, Bridges spent the last two years as mainly a three-point threat alongside Villanova’s veteran scorers. Last season, he finished with a TS% of 67.6%, shot 39% from three on 3.1 attempts per game, and had a 3PA rate (the rate of shots that are threes) of 48.1%. With the departure of Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart last summer, Bridges was going to have to diversify his offensive game to become the lead scorer Villanova needed him to be. So far, that diversity has come to fruition:

• His increased usage percentage (15.4% last year to 24% this year) has come with only small drops in his efficiency.
• He’s managed to IMPROVE his three-point shooting to 45.6% on 5.6 attempts per game, while improving his spot-up success as well (per Synergy).
• He’s added a post-up element to his game – after zero recorded post-up possessions last season, according to Synergy, it’s now his third most used scoring type and he’s in the 97% percentile for success.
• Most importantly, Bridges has shown significant improvement in his handling. After finishing last season with a 15.1% turnover rate – many of which came on drives to the hoop – Bridges has tightened up his handle and is now comfortable driving into the teeth of the defense. I’ll never get sick of watching this highlight

 

 

And there's more

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And while Bridges is developing into a capable scorer, he’s ALWAYS been a dynamic defender. He’s got a 7’1 wingspan (ranges between 7’0.5 and 7’2, depending on who you ask), and this, combined with his excellent athleticism, body control, and determination, allows him to switch between guarding collegiate points and collegiate bigs. As Mike Gribanov‏ over at the Stepienpointed out, if you look at the Synergy list of players with at least 90 possessions as primary defender, Bridges is number one for least points per possession allowed (.462). He’s averaging 2.7 steals (3.7% rate) and 1.8 blocks (4.8% rate) per 40 minutes. One of Coach Jay Wright’s favorite things to do is unleash his kraken in a full court press. A surprising amount of the time, it turns out like this.

At the NBA level, he should be able to handle a strong number of guards and up to some bigs in a smallball lineup (assuming he can add more bulk… he’s 200 lbs currently, and considering how much flak I gave Justin Jackson last year for being a skinny junior, I’d be a hypocrite not to point it out here). And while understanding that this borders hyperbole… aside from his lack of bulk (which will slow his immediate defensive transition to the NBA level), he has a physical profile (height, wingspan, athleticism) and defensive motor comparable to Kawhi Leonard’s last season at San Diego State.

He’s a top 7 pick in my book, and as the best player on one of the most fun teams to watch, he’ll be getting plenty of hype over the next few months.

Seriously, the guy is going to be one of the best prospects to come out of this draft.  I'd take him over Bamba, Miles, or Duval. 

Source: https://www.sactownroyalty.com/2018/1/10/16860344/2018-nba-draft-notebook-trae-young-mikal-bridges-two-way-stardom-and-fitting-the-dominant-bigs

Draft Source: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Mikal-Bridges-71763/

 

 

[JakeDel5674]

31 minutes ago, davos said:

Here's my pitch:

Bagley, Ayton, Trae Young, & Doncic - Top tier, we're not going to be bad enough to net any of those 4

Choice of target: Mikal Bridges

6'7 210, 7'1 wingspan  |  17 PPG, 6 RPG, 2 APG

2-way stretch 3, elite defense, tremendous off the ball (which is rare to find in college), & is the bloodforce of the Nova team.  He has improved his 3 ball every year in school from the 30s to now 45%.  Shooting 55% from the field.  He is a two-way star who could be right there for us to pick around 7-10.  

He has elite length.  Being compared to Leonard and given MJ's infatuation with the Spur all-star, I think this could be the ideal fit.  

Article snip:

 

 

And there's more

Seriously, the guy is going to be one of the best prospects to come out of this draft.  I'd take him over Bamba, Miles, or Duval. 

Source: https://www.sactownroyalty.com/2018/1/10/16860344/2018-nba-draft-notebook-trae-young-mikal-bridges-two-way-stardom-and-fitting-the-dominant-bigs

Draft Source: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Mikal-Bridges-71763/

 

 

Meh, midway through the season, determines if MJ lets Cho go full tank or not. But, with 20 wins respectively. Yeah, I guess it's hard to argue with you. 

[Shocker]

Hate to be negative and I really like this player but we wont pick him.  We cant draft for shet.

We were supposedly in win now mode and take Monk who never plays.  Something is wrong with the vision here.  

[davos]

51 minutes ago, Shocker said:

Hate to be negative and I really like this player but we wont pick him.  We cant draft for shet.

We were supposedly in win now mode and take Monk who never plays.  Something is wrong with the vision here.  

If you have the presumption Clifford (at the least) and Cho are gone come season's end, which I believe is highly likely, then I think there's reason to get excited about some prospects.  

Both Bridges and Sexton are the guys we'll likely be in play for barring crazy moves.  

[Shocker]

2 minutes ago, davos said:

If you have the presumption Clifford (at the least) and Cho are gone come season's end, which I believe is highly likely, then I think there's reason to get excited about some prospects.  

Both Bridges and Sexton are the guys we'll likely be in play for barring crazy moves.  

Sure makes sense and hope ur right about leadership changes.  Bridges is awesome so I'd love to get him here.  Sexton does makes sense as well as insurance for Kemba.  Will be interesting to see where we end up assuming we dont make a serious run to playoff contention.

[davos]

*Update: Great recent article: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/nba-mock-draft-2018-mikal-bridges-ncaa-tournament/

If he's there at 10, I think he'd be a great pick for us.  With how things are stacking up, we'll have one the the bigs as a possibility (Carter Jr.) Sexton or Trae as a new leader of our second unit or Mikal for the 3.  

[JakeDel5674]

8 hours ago, davos said:

*Update: Great recent article: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/nba-mock-draft-2018-mikal-bridges-ncaa-tournament/

If he's there at 10, I think he'd be a great pick for us.  With how things are stacking up, we'll have one the the bigs as a possibility (Carter Jr.) Sexton or Trae as a new leader of our second unit or Mikal for the 3.  

That person might be the leader of our first unit, if we can trade some assets for another Lottery pick. 

[ncfan]

I love some Bridges.  

Im drafting him and work on packaging Frank and MKG for a late 1st or early 2nd.

 

Work on extending Dwight but throw some incentives in his contract for FT%, FG%, avg rebounds at seasons end etc benchmarks.

 

Theres ways to blow part of the team up but keep Kemba

 

[Eazy-E]

I'd be fine with Mikal or Miles.