Miles Bridges: 2018 NBA Draft player profile

Strengths

Athleticism/strength 

Bridges possesses a rare combination of both strength and athleticism. This allows him to potentially transition into a small-ball 4 role without having ideal length for the position (he only stands at 6’6.75″ with a 6’9.75″ wingspan). Bridges’ strength is applied offensively when finishing at the rim.

Here you can see Bridges on an inbounds play against Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. After inbounding the ball, Bridges immediately sprints to the opposite block, posting up down low, sealing his matchup well and finishing through Bucknell’s big man for an and-1.

Where Bridges really shines athletically is his explosion off of two feet. This allows him to be an above-the-rim finisher at the next level. This also contributes to why Bridges is a quality rebounder.

On this sequence against Ohio State, Bridges goes up to grab a rebound against Micah Potter. Bridges does not do much in terms of boxing Potter out, but he explodes off of two feet and gets to the ball before Potter, who has a three-inch height advantage on him.

You can also see how his leaping ability translates on the offensive boards when he chooses to crash them. Here Bridges just rises up over the Bucknell big man in great position for the rebound.

Again he explodes off of two feet — an area where Bridges excels at more than anyone in the draft.

While Bridges’ rebounding numbers did go down at Michigan State this season, it should not be taken as an indicator that he is not a good rebounder. With Nick Ward playing increased minutes, and Jaren Jackson Jr. coming to Michigan State this season, there just are not enough missed shots to go around for everyone to have incredible rebounding numbers.

This chart shows NBA prospects who project into the small-ball 4 role. Bridges is last out of the four in rebounds per game, but I also took into consideration the other top-two rebounders on each prospect’s college team. Bridges ranks the best in that category. He also was the only player on this chart that did not lead his team in rebounds per game.

Potential offensive versatility

Bridges has many different unique elements at his disposal as an offensive player. First, he excels in transition where he can get out in the open court and take advantage of both his strength and athleticism again to finish at the rim. He ranked in the 79th percentile in transition offense, per Synergy.

Going back to the Ohio State game, you can see Bridges immediately sprint down the baseline once his teammate Nick Ward grabs the rebound. Cassius Winston immediately feeds Bridges in transition and he finishes through contact at the rim, highlighting his body control while driving on the move. He is able to have great body control when finishing through contact because of his incredible strength.

While Bridges is an excellent transition finisher, he stands out in the half-court game as well. The easiest translatable skill that Bridges owns is attacking a close-out, especially if the team drafting him plans on inserting him into their lineup as a small-ball 4. While Bridges’ first step is not amazing, it could pose problems for less coordinated NBA 4s, and again, his strength and ability to finish above the rim will make it hard to stop his drives in NBA spacing.

Here against Iowa, you can see Bridges attack a close-out against the zone defense. Bridges shows off his first step and is able to get to the rim with great body control in mid-air to put up the reverse layup with his left hand, avoiding the rim protection.

Michigan State ran a ton of off-ball movement for Bridges this year. While I’m not sure how focal of a point this will be for NBA teams, it gave Bridges the opportunity to showcase his shot diversity and just how well he truly moves without the ball in his hands. First, let’s take a look on how Bridges’ off-ball movement helps him create opportunities to finish at the rim.

Here against Maryland, he’s matched up with another likely first round selection, Kevin Huerter. Michigan State often ran down screens for Bridges to pop up and get space on the perimeter for a shot or a drive. Or, they’d run him off a curl, setting Bridges up for an opportunity to attack the rim.

It appears that the Michigan State big man is going to set a down screen on Bridges. However, he quickly shakes off the possible screen to free himself open for an easy dunk.

Now let’s take a look at how Bridges uses his off-ball movement to set up both his shooting off of movement, and pull-up jump shots.

Here you can see Bridges coming off another down screen from the low block. This time he catches the ball right at the free throw line and steps back for a mid-range jump shot after a power dribble.

He gets great elevation on his pull-up jumper while also having a high release point. Bridges’ pull-up jump shot from the mid-range is beautiful. He rarely ever loses his balance and can pull up from different angles while dribbling off either hand.

Here is Bridges against Bucknell (once again) where he comes off a simple down screen set by Michigan State’s point guard. He knocks down the catch and shoots the 3 off of movement. This was an absolutely fabulous game from Bridges and really gave you a feel of just how much offensive potential he really has.

On-ball Defense 

Defensively, Bridges moves his feet like a wing laterally. His strength could be a nice outlier against weaker 4s if he is asked to guard that position. However, he has the foot speed and reaction time to keep up with wings off the dribble and guards on switches.

Here’s Bridges defending against Maryland guard Darryl Morsell. Bridges does a nice job staying with the guard and sliding his feet beautifully to cut off his drive to the hoop.

Here’s a possession of Miles Bridges guarding Keita Bates-Diop, a possible first round selection out of Ohio State. Bates-Diop projects as a 4-man at 6’8″ and it is encouraging to see Bridges be able to handle him on ball.

While Bates-Diop does not have the same strength as an average 4, he does have elite elite length for his position. Again Bridges slides his feet well with Bates-Diop, forcing him into help and almost forcing a turnover.