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2018 Orlando Magic NBA Draft Preview: Mikal Bridges, the veteran leader

By Philip Rossman-Reich

PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 29: Mikal Bridges #25 of the Villanova Wildcats during a game against the Penn Quakers at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania on November 29, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Villanova defeated Penn 82-57. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 29: Mikal Bridges #25 of the Villanova Wildcats during a game against the Penn Quakers at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania on November 29, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Villanova defeated Penn 82-57. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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The Good

Players are supposed to get better. Year over year, they are supposed to improve. And not every player is ready to contribute right from the start not at a star level. It feels like in Draft analysis, everyone views that slow progression in college to be a bad thing.

A player like Mikal Bridges just needed time. His game was better suited to slowly grow in a role and improve his shooting.

His shooting came a long way from his freshman year. He simply was not a NBA player before this season. But he quickly established himself as the kind of player a veteran team like Villanova could rely upon. His consistency throughout the year and his spurtability from the outside transformed him into a Lottery pick.

Bridges averaged 17.7 points per game with a 62.3 percent effective field goal percentage. He hit on 43.5 percent of his 3-pointers, growing from his 39-percent shooting as a sophomore. Everything just seemed to get better and better for Bridges got older. His confidence just grew and grew.

You could see it in his shot most of all. He came around screens ready to fire and shoot. And rarely did he take a contested shot. It was all perfectly in rhythm and within the flow of Villanova’s offense.

Bridges knew where to float on the perimeter to be where his teammates needed to see him. He was always available to receive that pass and drain the 3-pointer. Give him any daylight, and he was going to make it more often than not.

Where his game really expanded and took a leap was in his drives to the basket. He established himself as a good enough shooter that teams respected his shot. He drove on those close-outs effectively and had good athleticism finishing at the rim.

What stands out most about Bridges, and why he projects so highly in the NBA, is he just knows where to be on the court. That preternatural ability to slide over where a driver can find him best at the 3-point line is not merely running plays or sets. That is knowing where he needs to be to keep the defense off balance and support his teammates.

That is on offense. On defense, Bridges stands out too. He has good length for a player at 6-foot-7. He has the size teams want from a wing player. And projects as a high-level 3-and-D player. His defense was a big part of what made Villanova a truly great team last year.

His emergence and his consistency as a shooter and scorer made them champions.