CHICAGO – Mikal Bridges is nearly a thousand miles from the NBA Draft Combine, yet his name came up Wednesday as if he was about to walk through the Wintrust Center.
The Nets wing was a talking point among numerous draft prospects. Whether it was as a player they model their game after or someone whose career arc is something they’d like to emulate, Bridges was a buzzword throughout the media session.
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“I used to be a huge Paul Pierce fan,” said Iowa’s Kris Murray. “…He wasn’t the fastest guy, but he always got to his spots. He was a big shot-maker. But now it’s Mikal Bridges. Just seeing how he plays. We have similar body types. I feel like defensively I can be similar to him. He’s been great in his role especially in Phoenix, now in Brooklyn he’s expanded his role. That’s a person I’ve been watching a lot.”
Bridges’ rise from role player to star has been well-documented since being a key acquisition in the Kevin Durant trade. He went from a 3-and-D sidekick to a go-to scorer. His own teammates admitted they never expected him to put up 30- and 40-point games that rivaled Durant’s production and his finger-point celebration in honor of Manny Machado got copied by other stars. In 27 games with the Nets, Bridges’ points per game jumped from 17.2 in Phoenix to 26.1 in Brooklyn. He shot 48 percent from the field, a slight increase from the 56-game stretch with the Suns and kept his 3-point percentage just below 40 percent.
GO DEEPERMikal Bridges envisioned his rise far before the trade to the Nets — it just took a little longer“How he changed his game, how he changed his mindset I thought you don’t see very often,” Murray said. “How he was able to do that in a short time was really cool.”
Plenty around the league took notice, but the game’s younger generation did, too.Bridges’ rise spread across the sea as Frenchman Rayan Rupert cited Bridges as his favorite player after watching Kevin Durant as a kid. Cam Whitmore, a projected lottery pick who played at Villanova after Bridges did, said he’s leaned on Bridges and Knicks forward Josh Hart, a fellow Nova product, for advice on the draft process. Whitmore said he’s told teams he has a similar two-way game to Bridges.
But it’s more than just his breakout season, but how he got there. At the 2022 combine, players were citing Bridges as a player to emulate because he was the prototypical 3-and-D player. This year, players mentioned how they could be drafted into a similar situation like Bridges, having to be a role player before getting the chance to do more. Pepperdine’s Maxwell Jones said he’s told teams he’s met with that he can grow into a bigger role over time like if they take him just like Bridges’ did.
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“I feel like he already had a big role with the Suns, but he just got a really big opportunity and took advantage of it,” Jones said. “I see myself being that type of player in a couple of years.”
“I want to have the same trajectory and same process he did,” Rupert said. “Mikal Bridges is a big inspiration for me.”
Nets general manager Sean Marks would be happy to hear that. Marks scouted Rupert in person this past season when the 6-foot-6 wing was playing for the New Zealand Breakers in Marks’ home country. Rupert declined to list the teams he’s met with or worked out for, but could be of interest to the Nets, who hold the 21st and 22nd picks in June’s draft.
Bridges’ emergence was already a major storyline in the final stretch of the regular season. Now, the domino effect has made its way to the draft.
Jett Howard meets with Nets
In his post-lottery mock draft, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie pegged the Nets to take Michigan’s Jett Howard at No. 22. Howard is a great shooter and would serve as a bit of an insurance policy if the Nets lost Cam Johnson in free agency, as Howard shot 37 percent from 3 and averaged 14 points per game as a freshman.
Howard said he met with the Nets in Chicago and has also talked with the Wizards, Warriors and Grizzlies. He plans to meet with the Jazz and Mavericks on Thursday. The son of Michigan coach and longtime NBA veteran Juwan Howard, the draft process has been a reunion of sorts for the 19-year-old, who grew up around the game while his father played and later served as an assistant coach in Miami before returning to his alma mater.
Jett Howard said he ran into Jazz assistant general manager David Fizdale in an elevator, who reminded him he used to shoot on the mini-hoop in his office when he worked with his father in Miami. But the Howards also have a connection to the Nets despite Juwan never playing in New Jersey or Brooklyn. When Jacque Vaughn was in high school and one of the most sought after recruits in the nation, he took a visit to Michigan, one of his four finalists, where he was hosted by Juwan Howard. The two have been cool ever since. Vaughn ultimately chose Kansas.
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“I always say the only two recruits I didn’t get (to Michigan) were Jacque Vaughn and Charles O’Bannon,” Juwan Howard told The Athletic.
And-1s
Connecticut wing Jordan Hawkins met with the Nets on Wednesday in addition to the Thunder, Clippers, Mavericks and Lakers. A key member of the Huskies’ 2023 national championship team, Hawkins could fall to the Nets in the early 20s or be off the board a few picks sooner. Considered one of the best movement shooters in the draft, Hawkins has been telling teams he’s similar to Klay Thompson, Max Strus and Tyler Herro because of his quick release and ability to move around the floor. Hawkins’ calling cards are shooting and defense, which go with any team.
Xavier guard Colby Jones will work out for the Nets in the coming weeks, he told The Athletic. A 6-6 wing, Jones averaged 15 points, six rebounds and four assists per game on over 50 percent shooting, including 38 percent from 3. He does a little bit of it all and is telling teams he likes to model himself after players such as Hart, who impacts winning in multiple ways. He’s a projected late first-round pick.
Photo of Mikal Bridges: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)
