NBA Draft: Luka Doncic rises to first in 2018 NBA Redraft
Small Forward. Orlando Magic. Mikal Bridges. 6. player. 38.
There are a handful of players still on the board with a higher “ceiling” than Bridges, either as the centerpiece of an impact defense or a prolific scorer who can create offense for themselves and others. Yet Mikal Bridges rises to sixth in our redraft because he is one of the league’s very best role players already after just three seasons.
The Phoenix Suns took him nine picks after DeAndre Ayton in the original 2018 NBA Draft, trading with the Philadelphia 76ers to move up and pair him with Devin Booker and Ayton. That trio is as good of a young core as anyone has in the league, with Bridges one of the league’s best 3-and-D players.
Bridges is a career 37.6 percent 3-point shooter who has steadily improved his shooting percentage each season, with a blistering 42.5 percent mark last year. Defensively he uses his 7’1″ wingspan to envelop opposing wings or even guards. Not simply a catch-and-shoot player, he is one of the league’s best off-ball cutters and has enough playmaking chops to attack a closeout and make the right read.
The Orlando Magic have struggled to draft stars and role players in recent years. They originally took Texas center Mo Bamba, which has turned out to be a major disappointment. Here they would get a player they can plug in and rely on, and he would be a terrifying defensive combination with Jonathan Isaac, who went in the 2017 Draft to the Magic.