Шарлотт Хорнетс багаас солилцоогоор ирсэн Майлс Брижес Финикс Санс багийн тоглолтын хэв маягт тохирч, багийн хүч зузаатгах чухал хүн байх төлөвтэй байна.
Зургаадугаар сарын 28-нд албан ёсоор хийгдсэн энэхүү солилцоогоор Финикс Санс Грэйсон Аллен, Ройс О’Нил болон 2033 оны драфтын нэгдүгээр тойргийн эрхийг Шарлотт Хорнетс руу явуулсан юм. Майлс Брижес нь NBA-д долоон улирал тоглохдоо дунджаар 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists үзүүлэлттэй байсан бөгөөд талбай дээрх хичээл зүтгэл, бие бялдрын хувьд хүчирхэг тоглолтоороо үнэлэгддэг тоглогч билээ.
Финикс Санс багийн удирдлагууд болон дасгалжуулагчдын бүрэлдэхүүн Мичиган Стэйт их сургуультай нягт холбоотой бөгөөд Брижесийн тоглолтын хэв маяг нь багийн тогтоосон хатуу ширүүн, тэсвэр хатуужилтай байх соёлд бүрэн нийцэж байгааг шинжээчид онцолж байна. Тэрээр хамгаалалтад олон төрлийн үүрэг гүйцэтгэхээс гадна довтолгоонд гурван онооны шидэлт болон самбарын дор ч үр дүнтэй тоглох чадвартай.
Хэдийгээр тоглогчийн талбайн гаднах зан төлөв болон өнгөрсөн хугацаанд гарсан асуудлууд нь олон нийтийн дунд эргэлзээ төрүүлж байгаа ч багийнхны зүгээс түүнийг хичээл зүтгэлтэй, дасгалжуулагчийн зааврыг сайн биелүүлдэг гэж дүгнэжээ. Майлс Брижес нь 75 сая долларын гурван жилийн гэрээнийхээ сүүлийн жилдээ орох гэж байгаа тул ирээдүйд багийн гол цөм тоглогчдын нэг болох боломжтой юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
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PHOENIX — Miles Bridges is a throwback player, durable, protective and versatile, one who should not only make the Phoenix Suns better next season, but should fit into the basketball culture the front office has promoted as the organization’s foundation.
That’s the assessment of five former NBA assistant coaches who have worked with Bridges, the physical forward the Suns acquiredfrom the Charlotte Hornets in a tradeon June 28. The coaches spoke candidly with The Athletic about Bridges, detailing where he should help the Suns and where he needs to improve. They also acknowledged his off-court conduct and expressed confidence he had learned from previous mistakes.
For obvious reasons, Bridges’ arrival brings both optimism and concerns.
In 2022, Bridges pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge stemming from an allegation that he assaulted his then-girlfriend in front of the couple’s two children. He sat out the 2022-23 season while the incident was investigated and, after signing a qualifying offer to return to Charlotte, missed the first 10 games of the next season as part of a 30-game NBA suspension.
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Bridges apologized to fans and thanked the league and Hornets for giving him a second chance.
However, in 2023, Bridges was accused of violating a domestic violence protective order after an incident in which he was alleged to have thrown billiard balls at his ex-girlfriend’s car, threatening to withhold child support if she told police. Those charges were dismissed in 2024 due to insufficient evidence.
This is a big move for the Suns, who are trying to stretch beyond the Play-In Tournament they reached last season and into Western Conference contention. They sent guard Grayson Allen, forward Royce O’Neale and a 2033 unprotected first-round pick to Charlotte.
In addition to Bridges, they received a 2029 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick. With Bridges approaching the final season of a three-year, $75 million deal, Phoenix could sign Bridges to an extension and make him a significant part of the team’s future.
In a recent media session regarding the selection of Arizona forward Koa Peat in the NBA Draft, Phoenix general manager Brian Gregory talked often about Peat’s character and the role it played in the organization’s decision to draft him. As of Tuesday, Gregory had not publicly commented on the 28-year-old Bridges because the league had not yet finalized the trade. Bridges has also not been made available for comment.
On the basketball court, the former Charlotte coaches said Bridges will fit into Phoenix’s culture because he works hard and is nearly always available. In seven seasons, in which he averaged 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists, Bridges never played fewer than 64 games. The former Michigan State star played 77 games last season as Charlotte posted 44 wins, its most in a decade.
“Hard-working dude,” said Rex Walters, who coached in Charlotte from 2022 to 2024. “Very reliable in terms of just being available. He’s a little bit of a throwback in that way. He wants to play, he wants to compete, he wants to be out there. He was very easy to coach, listened, wanted to be good. I think some of that’s the (Tom) Izzo effect, you know?”
The Suns will hope that Miles Bridges’ versatile game can help a team that secured the West’s No. 8 seed and was swept in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder. (Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images)
Bridges played two seasons for Izzo, who helped him blossom into one of the nation’s top college players (Ernest Collins, who coached Bridges at Flint Southwestern Academy, recalled the Spartans having interest in Bridges as early as his freshman season).
The Suns have strong ties to Michigan State. Gregory, the Phoenix GM, is a former Izzo assistant coach who worked as a program consultant during Bridges’ first season. Suns owner Mat Ishbia (former walk-on guard), coach Jordan Ott (graduate assistant coach) and Mateen Cleaves (player development/leadership assistant) also have Spartan DNA.
Since moving on from Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal last summer, the Suns have overhauled the roster, emphasizing toughness and grit. For much of last season, the Suns were known as one of the NBA’s hardest-playing teams. That’s the Michigan State influence.
“Those guys are known to be tough and physical,” Norm Richardson, a Charlotte assistant from 2021 to 2024, said of Michigan State products. “Tom Izzo usually doesn’t recruit guys that aren’t that way. That’s their identity. Miles, he fits right into that mold.”
Listed at 6 foot 7 and 225 pounds, Bridges is expected to join a frontline that includes Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams. Offensively, he can score at all three levels. He runs the floor and attacks the rim.
Early in his career, Bridges worked with former Charlotte assistant Bruce Kreutzer on his shooting and turned into a respectable 3-point shooter. He’s not on O’Neale’s level, but opponents have to respect him.
Last season, Bridges hit 33.3 percent of his 445 attempts from beyond the arc, matching his career accuracy. Given his touch at the foul line, where Bridges shoots 82.5 percent, improvement seems possible.
“The offensive piece is interesting because Ott’s system with the cutting and sliding, it fits him,” said Nick Friedman, an assistant coach who was around Bridges in Charlotte for five years. “Right now, if you watch the film, he’s really just a handler, driver, shooter. He’s got way more versatility than just that, and the two elements that we haven’t really seen as of late have been the cutting and the screening in higher volume.”
The Suns ranked ninth in defensive rating last season but faded over the final weeks. Bridges should give them a versatile frontcourt defender who can guard big guards and both forward positions, possibly even centers in smaller lineups.
Former Charlotte assistant Nate Mitchell said he remembered Bridges, as a rookie, telling coaches he wanted to guard LeBron James, then in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Give me those guys any day and let me tame them rather than trying to push somebody to be competitive,” Mitchell said.
All the coaches complimented Bridges’ work ethic. He went hard in practice. He stuck up for teammates. He wanted to be challenged. Despite the off-court issues, they never questioned his character as a basketball player. They considered him a good teammate.
“The only aspect of the basketball character that he needs to really improve upon is like the sacrificial winning things,” Friedman said. “Do you crash the offensive glass every time? Are you detail-oriented defensively? Do you ease up just because you’ve scored 20 on a given night, and then you’re also giving up 20?
“Those things right there are where he needs to clean up. But in terms of overall locker room character, guys love him. Coaches love him. I’m a fan.”
Whether fans embrace Bridges will remain a storyline. Elizabeth Delia, an associate professor who has studied fan behavior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said fans have the right to feel however they want. She added that some may react strongly — This team is dead to me! — but as the season unfolds, familiar feelings surface and the anger fades.
“Then there are folks who will simply just separate the player, and specifically their off-court life, from the team,” Delia said. “So what Miles Bridges has done in his life outside of basketball — I’m just going to put that to the side. It is the easiest way to get through this. On the one hand, it’s also one of the hardest ways, because you are just ignoring something about that person.”
It might depend on Bridges himself and how he builds trust within the Suns community.
“It’s obviously a layer of something that you always have to be cognizant of because, listen, it was something that did transpire in his life,” Friedman said of the off-court problems. “But having been around him, I was surprised when I heard that it happened. … And since then, I did see a man who really did try as hard as he could to improve his life and improve his surroundings. And, honestly, he poured more into the work.”
