On July 13, the Miles Bridges trade became official. Brian Gregory had this to say about the Suns’ new power forward.
“His elite athleticism, strength and versatility allow him to impact the game on both ends of the floor. He embodies the grit, competitiveness and work ethic that fit our identity, and we’re excited to welcome him to Phoenix.”
High praise. Or maybe bold praise, considering Bridges’ six-year NBA career with the Hornets.
Coming out of Michigan-lite, Bridges was projected to be the type
of player that Gregory is describing. A potential two-way star, with the athleticism to be a menace on the defensive end and a problem with the ball in his hands.
Tom Izzo had this to say to the New York Post about Miles Bridges in advance of the 2018 draft.
“I see a guy who can play a lot of positions and defend them with his strength and rebounding,’’ Izzo said. “What I’d like to see him get better at? Continually improving getting shots off the dribble. He’s a phenomenal 85 percent free-throw shooter. I’d like to see him get to the line more. He’ll get better because he’s a gym rat — in there at 6:30 a.m., in there at night. How many guys love the game, how many guys like the game.”
Chris Dempsey wrote this about Bridges’ potential to impact the defensive end in the NBA.
Miles Bridges’ ideal fit is with a team looking to add toughness and defense to its rotation without sacrificing offense. Bridges can score – Michigan State ran many plays for him – but his immediate impact will be on defense, where he projects to be a very good defender. Bridges is also a good rebounder, and can play right away for a team with scoring and playmaking around him that is in need of some hustle, solid spot-up shooting, and intangibles.
Sounds like one of “Gregory’s Grinders,” and if that’s the Miles Bridges the Suns get it’s a strong step toward building a contender, but that’s not the Miles Bridges the Hornets got over his six years in Charlotte.
The front office is rolling the dice that Charlotte was the problem, and given Charlotte’s record during Miles Bridges’ tenure, it’s a reasonable assumption, even if the numbers signal risk. Will Miles Bridges be who Miles Bridges has been? Or can the Suns’ newly installed culture, and a group of young forwards nipping at his heels, push Miles Bridges to be the explosive two-way player scouts thought he had the potential to be coming out of college?
The Suns clearly believe Bridges can grow as a defender, but Miles Bridges isn’t a prospect anymore.
Over his career, Miles Bridges has a defensive rating of 115.0, which is hovering around average for power forwards.
To put it in context, last season, his future partner at forward, Dillon Brooks, had a defensive rating of 116.5, and the forward he’s replacing, Royce O’Neale, had a defensive rating of 113.9. Those stats being what they are, I’m expecting Miles Bridges to be a clear upgrade defensively in most areas compared to Royce, except for one notable exception. Steals.
The Suns got busy in the passing lanes this season and finished the year fourth in the league with 9.5 steals per contest. Royce O’Neale was responsible for 1.1 of them. Last year for the Hornets, Miles Bridges averaged 0.6 steals per game. The expectations will be different under Jordan Ott, who has attached his defensive philosophy to creating extra possessions by forcing turnovers. If the Suns are going to put out the kind of Thunder-esque defense Ott has envisioned, 0.6 steals from their starting power forward isn’t going to cut it.
For comparison, last season Goodie led the Suns with 1.5 steals a game. Devin Booker averaged 0.8, Jalen Green averaged 1.1, Dillon Brooks averaged 1.0, and Mark Williams contributed 0.9 a game. In addition to the Suns losing Royce’s 1.1 steals, Grayson is taking his 1.4 steals per game with him as well. There is reason to be concerned that, if Miles Bridges can’t find a way to be more disruptive, an area of advantage could regress toward league averages.
Standing at 6’7” with a 6′ 10” wingspan, Miles Bridges is a plus athlete who lacks length. Yet there are reasons to believe that Bridges could create more steals this upcoming season with the Suns. Mark Williams set a career high in steals per game in his first year in Phoenix. Defense is often a mentality as much as an ability, and the Suns were locked in on the defensive end last year. Bridges may thrive in this type of environment, which stands to be starkly different from the culture he’ll be leaving behind in Charlotte.
If not, there is no shortage of young forwards behind him, bringing the athleticism along with the length Bridges lacks. The progress of Rasheer Fleming, Ryan Dunn, and Koa Peat may impact the Suns’ willingness to commit to a Miles Bridges extension. If Bridges wants to make Phoenix a long-term stay, he will need to find the defensive intensity that he never tapped into in Charlotte.
One area Bridges could hang his hat on, as he carves out his role in the Suns’ defense, is the impact he could make on the defensive glass. The stop isn’t complete until the defense secures the rebound, and the Suns struggled to secure the rebound last year.
The Suns were 29th in the league in defensive rebounding last season. Royce was the second leading defensive rebounder on the team with 4.0 per game, and while the Suns’ rebounding issues go beyond the power forward position, the 4.9 rebounds Miles Bridges averaged for Charlotte in 25/26 would have tied Mark Williams for 1st on the Suns. Over his career, he’s averaged 5.1 defensive rebounds per contest. It’s no secret the Suns struggled to compete against size last year, and Miles Bridges, while an undersized four, is going to give the Suns some much-needed “oomph” on the glass.
If Miles Bridges does buy into the team culture, the Suns are adding a much-needed high-end athlete as they look to take their defense from a defense that out-hustles teams in October and November to a defense that wreaks havoc against the NBA’s best in the playoffs. While the Suns excelled in forcing turnovers in the regular season, the advantage disappeared in the playoffs against the NBA’s best.
Suns fans got a first-hand look at the defense that the Ishbia, Gregory, and Ott are trying to bring to Phoenix when the Suns ran into the Thunder in the playoffs. The difference between taking advantage of regular season lapses to forcing your will on a team whose best efforts aren’t enough. That’s what the top defenses do. Athletes like Miles Bridges make fielding a defense like that possible.
The Suns FO has said they want veterans to have career years. Could Miles Bridges average 1.0 steals and 8 rebounds a game next year on the Suns? In the 2024-25 season, he averaged 0.7 steals and 7.5 rebounds for a 19-win Hornets team, so it’s not insane to think he could. If that’s the case, the Suns might be a lot better than I thought they would be in the immediate aftermath of the trade.
There’s still a risk, and a lengthy history to suggest that the transformation to defensive demon won’t happen, and Bridges will continue to be pedestrian on that end of the floor. Could Charlotte’s losing culture be to blame for Miles Bridges not living up to his defensive potential, or could part of the reason Charlotte had a losing culture be that they had guys like Miles Bridges on the team? Talented but distracted players.
The Suns have time to figure out if it works before committing long-term to Bridges if they are willing to let him hit unrestricted free agency. So far this offseason, they’ve been quick to wrap these deals up, but they still have to figure out what they want to do with Brooks contract extension and with a rookie like Koa Peat looking ready to push the rotation. Is it smart to put Miles Bridges in front of him for the next four years?
Miles Bridges could be the win-now move the Suns needed, even if he’s not the win-now move the fans wanted. (JAYLEN BROWN!!!!) It all depends on Miles Bridges’ commitment to being a better defensive player than he’s been over his six-year career.
Brian Gregory thinks, “[Bridges] elite athleticism, strength, and versatility allow him to impact the game on both ends of the floor.”
He hasn’t been that type of player at the NBA level, but I’m not going to tell anyone what they can or can’t do. Only Miles Bridges can decide that.
Fingers crossed.
