Miles Bridges: 2018 NBA Draft player profile

Weaknesses

Consistent 3-point shooting 

This is HUGE, and emphasizing it with all capital letters does not do nearly enough justice. While Bridges did shoot another respectable mark from 3 this season, his shot still concerns me. In order for him to reach his maximum potential, he has to shoot it well to open up the rest of his offensive game. Bridges’ jump shot off the catch in spot-up situations is my main concern.

Oftentimes when Bridges is catching and shooting, he does nothing to prepare himself to shoot. He does not hop into the shot, or set his feet stepping into it. This leads to a hesitation to collect himself every time he attempts a 3-point shot off the catch.

Here it is on display against Maryland: Bridges is ready to shoot in the right corner, but just does nothing to prepare himself to get his shot off faster.

I do not think anyone projects Bridges to handle a high-usage role, but one does expect him to be a solid offensive scoring option. In order for him to do this and have value pulling up off down screens or even just attacking a close-out, he has to be a consistent shooter off the catch. Bridges repeats this hesitation almost religiously off of movement as well.

Here against Bucknell, you can see Bridges make a beautiful V-cut to free himself up for an open 3-pointer. This time he prepares himself for a shot which he usually does when shooting off movement, but for some reason that slight hesitation is constantly there.

Off-ball defense 

I would not necessarily say that Bridges is a bad off-ball defender as a prospect, but somewhere right below average. He is prone to mental lapses like every young player, but does not stand out as an off-ball defender enough for it to help his game. This is very puzzling, especially playing at Michigan State.

Bridges does have a certain tendency to play a little too close to his man off ball. Sometimes it is justified, like when he guarded Dakota Mathias against Purdue, but other times it appears that there is no way it should be apart of Michigan State’s gameplan.

Here he is glued to Jae’Sean Tate, who is a 31 percent 3-point shooter that only attempted 35 3-pointers all year. Kam Williams scores off a back cut with zero weak side help from Michigan State as a whole team.