NBA Mock Draft 2017, Week 20: The Sweet Sixteen edition

Mikal Bridges is a 6-foot-7 wing with excellent 3-and-D potential who should slot into an NBA role rather easily. As a redshirt sophomore, he averaged 13.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per 40 minutes for Villanova.

Bridges’ offensive role is pretty limited because of his lack of creation ability at this stage. He doesn’t really have the shiftiness or ball-handling ability to attack opponents one-on-one, but he is a great cutter off the ball and has developed into a good outside shooter. Bridges made 39.3 percent of his 3-point attempts this season, raising both his volume of attempts and his free throw percentage, which suggests it’s a more sustainable increase. Even if all Bridges does in the NBA is stand and shoot 3s in the corner, that’s still a valuable offensive role.

What’s more exciting than Bridges’ offense is his defense. He needs to add some strength to his frame, but he should be a switchable, multi-position defender in the NBA due to his size and length. Bridges obviously makes a statistical impact in the box score as well, producing blocks and steals at a high rate.

It’s hard to imagine the 20-year old being an elite NBA player, but he could be elite in a particular 3-and-D role and that’s what makes him a first round pick in my mind.