Miles Bridges, F, Charlotte Hornets
The main reason acquiring a player like Miles Bridges is feasible for the Golden State Warriors is because he is still under his rookie contract for two more years. With Miles Bridges being owed $3.9M this year, the Warriors could get away with offering Jordan Poole/Damion Lee and possibly a player like Mychal Mulder, along with a couple first-round draft picks in order to land the former NBA lottery pick.
Now in his third season in the NBA, Miles Bridges’ career has not gotten off to a fast start in Charlotte and while he has been decent, he has not lived up to the expectations put on him when the Hornets drafted him 12th overall in 2018. In two seasons, Bridges has played in 145 games, averaging 10.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and shooting 44.4% from the floor, 32.8% from three-point range.
The reason why Miles Bridges could be a target for the Warriors is because his status is up-in-the-air with Charlotte. While they would probably want to trade him for an NBA All-Star level talent, as the Hornets are a few pieces away from being a playoff team in the East, they may be willing to listen to the Warriors’ offer because of some valuable draft picks that could be involved. Plus, Damion Lee and Jordan Poole are both valuable bench players that the Hornets could utilize in their backcourt.
What Miles Bridges brings to the table for Golden State is another versatile and athletic option on the wing that has a lot of untapped potential. In his third year now, Bridges still does not have a set role or mold and the Warriors could easily develop him into something special moving forward.
With Bridges being under contract this year and next year, the Warriors would have time and flexibility when it came time for a contract extension for him and while they are tight financially moving forward, they could definitely make something work if they wanted to keep Bridges in their long-term plans.
It makes sense for the Warriors to target another athletic wing like Miles Bridges via trade and acquiring him would definitely be easier financially than many would believe.
