After years of trying to figure out how the KD-Kyrie marriage would work, the Brooklyn Nets’ ownership finally moved on from it at the recent trade deadline to lean toward the future. To be honest, this was an appropriate decision that should’ve been made earlier.
Although signs were tilting in the right direction, with the early-season success of Durant and the Nets, the inevitable volatility of Kyrie Irving’s mind was there again. The team was able to load off Irving via a trade that sent him to the Dallas Mavericks. It also prompted the team to ship Durant to a contending squad that would probably suit him better at this point of his career, which was the Phoenix Suns.
Currently, the Nets have regained draft equity and have young pieces to build around for the coming years. And with a team still filled with veterans, they could definitely toggle if they keep some of them or convert them into acquisitions that fit their philosophy.
But during the latter part of the regular season and the few games they had in the playoffs, Mikal Bridges emerged as having taken the leap to stardom. From an off-ball and defense-first guy with the Suns to a primary scoring option with the Nets
Now the underlying question for the Nets is: could Bridges be the face of the franchise moving forward? Did the flashes of brilliance in his short stint so far with the team be enough to hand the keys to him?
It’s what we are about to look at, and if the growth of Bridges as a player merits the tag as a first option for a rebuilding yet competitive squad.
Bridges’ improved offensive repertoire for the Nets.
A fact that should be made clear about the rise in play from Bridges is that it started early in the season when he was still part of the Phoenix Suns. He was able to capitalize on the absence of their main guys to have those on-ball reps, which further got highlighted once Bridges became a member of the Brooklyn Nets.
During the stretch when Devin Booker was out, Bridges stepped up to the plate and averaged 19.3 points on a 57.7 true shooting percentage. The pretty clear observation of this is that efficiency did not falter in his increased usage.
It all made sense when the 26-year-old player played out as the main guy for the Nets in 27 regular-season games. He averaged 26.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks on 48/38/89 shooting splits (60.7 TS%) in 34.2 minutes per game.
But being in the NBA playoffs will always be a different animal. It might and should reveal your strengths and flaws, so work on your game. And for Bridges, there were a lot of aspects to be excited about that are still in the work-in-progress stage.
Bridges had a passing performance in his first series as the top player in the opponent’s scouting report with numbers of 23.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4 assists, 0.5 steals, and 2 turnovers on 43/40/78 (53.9 TS%) in 39.4 minutes per contest. More than the statistics, there is plenty to unpack by matching it with an eye test.
Early in their series against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Nets were able to get good looks through movement sets. In the case of Bridges, it included more screening actions, either on or off the ball, which caters to his strongest suit on the offensive end.
Here are some possessions where the Nets set double-drag screens to enable Bridges to attack downhill (on-ball) and went with ‘Chicago’ action (pindown to a dribble hand-off).
The Sixers went out to counter those plays by blitzing (sending two to the ball) toward Bridges, forcing him to pass. They also top-locked on the off-ball screens to deny him the basketball. So the other way Bridges would remain effective was to hunt the mismatches and be aggressive to generate paint touches to create scoring opportunities for himself or his teammates.
Against the Sixers, the obvious ones that his 7’1″ frame could punish were Tyrese Maxey and James Harden. With switching basically the norm as the pick-and-roll coverage to keep the ball in front, having the aforementioned guards defend Bridges would be optimal, as he can just raise up and it helps to have a quick first step too.
Though it was evident that Bridges struggled at times in isolation situations and handling the doubles, It’s definitely a must for him to develop his passing. The mere fact that he attracts the defense, open shots will be there and the responsibility to find them lies on Bridges. Still not that pretty, but a necessary enhancement to complete his offensive arsenal.
Will the improved scoring be a trade-off for Bridges’ defense?
As the offensive load of Bridges was expected to ramp up with the Nets, the concern was will he be able to exert the same effort defensively as in previous years.
If you’ve paid attention to Bridges’ whole career, the first thing that comes to mind is probably his stout defense. Being a member of the All-Defensive First Team last season, he must be in the discussion of the best defensive wings we have in the game.
Having said that, the math now changes as Bridges will be handling a larger role in the scoring department. The decrease in his steals (1.2 to 1.0) and blocks per game (1.0 to 0.8) since switching teams in the regular season isn’t something to be concerned about just yet. Again, the perfect gauge would be how he performs in the postseason.
Checking the numbers, it was glaring to see that the Nets thrived better on defense while Bridges was riding the bench. According to PBP Stats, in the 157 minutes Bridges was on the court, Brooklyn had a 119.93 defensive rating that resulted in a -15.1 net rating. Inversely, their defense becomes good, only allowing 101.5 points per 100 possessions to the opposition in 35 minutes.
It also might be realistic to say that Bridges didn’t have a consistently positive impact on that end in the whole series, as the numbers indicated. But it’s worth noting that the doubling scheme of the Nets on Joel Embiid played a role in it. He wasn’t able to focus on a specific assignment because his focus was on being the second guy on the NBA MVP or rotating to the player helped off by those doubles.
Bridges’ best defensive game considerably was in Game 3, as he disrupted both on the ball and the actions off the ball. Unfortunately, the stops he generated only came in glimpses as the Sixers swept the Nets.
The uncertainties that loom about having Mikal Bridges as the main piece geared toward the future remain valid. Flaws are still apparent, and the small sample size fuels the skeptic chatter. The answer to the question is up to Bridges himself to answer, which starts this offseason. Keeping an eye on him should be a must for all Nets fans.