Has 2018 NBA Draft prospect Miles Bridges changed?

Last season, Miles Bridges was one of the best freshman in the entire nation. The most heralded recruit of the Tom Izzo era had Spartans fans in awe of his play and many assumed his time in East Lansing would only last a few months. Fast forward a year, and Bridges remains a member of Izzo’s Spartans and currently has them in the running for a Big 10 championship and national title contention.

Bridges is the man at Michigan State and though the magnifying glass on him from scouts and media members alike has only intensified since he made his surprising decision to return to school for his sophomore year, he is still showcasing lottery-level talent.

The 6-foot-7 forward showed he’s no follower with his choice to spurn the NBA Draft a year ago. A Flint, Michigan native, Bridges is intent upon leaving an indelible mark in Spartan lore before he takes his talent to the next stage. However, the more time a prospect spends playing outside of the NBA, the more their game gets dissected and nitpicked. Bridges played mostly power forward last year due to a rampant number of injuries that depleted Michigan State’s frontcourt depth. The extra spacing and slower defenders helped hide some of the weaknesses in his game. This year, Bridges has slid down to small forward and his performance has left outsiders (and Izzo) wanting more at times.

Following his freshman season, Bridges spent the offseason in Miami trying to fine tune his game and add more perimeter shooting and ball=handling abilities to his arsenal. While it was a shrewd decision, he hasn’t necessarily had the marked improvement expected in his transition to a more traditional small forward style of play. What hasn’t escaped him is his athleticism. He’s an above-the-rim player that needs only a sliver of separation to explode for a poster slam dunk.

It is easy to fall down a rabbit hole of ferocious Bridges dunks on YouTube and he’ll certainly add more to the collection over the course of his future NBA career. Lost in his aerial assaults, though, is the fact that he has become one of the best shooters in the country.

Outside shooting was seen as an area Bridges needed to approve upon when he first hit campus in East Lansing. And yet, he shot 38.9 percent on five 3-point attempts per game as a freshman. His percentage has dipped slightly this year (36.7 percent) from the perimeter, but his free throw percentage has shot up from 68.5 percent all the way to 89.5 percent.

He is much more comfortable with his shot this season. Bridges was predominantly a catch-and-shoot threat from deep a season ago, but he is now just as comfortable drilling 3-pointers off the dribble. This game-winning 3-pointer against Purdue is a statement moment his collegiate career had been missing up to that point:

Where Bridges could shine right away is on the other end of the floor. He’s a physical marvel, well put together and sculpted with muscles even after dropping 10 pounds between his freshman and sophomore years. (He’s now at a sturdy 225 pounds).

Bridges’ combination of strength and athleticism — along with a reported 7-foot wingspan — gives him the versatility to defend wings and small ball power forwards. With the NBA trending smaller, a player like Bridges would be a welcomed addition to any roster.

Transition defense is an area where Bridges shines in particular. He is able to combine all of his positive physical traits into explosive chasedown blocks on unsuspecting opponents.

He can also meet big men at the summit in the paint as a weak-side defender. In the play below, we see Bridges reach the zenith of his athletic tools and deny what seemed like a guaranteed two points for No. 44 on Penn State, who has a listed height of 6-foot-10.

The icing on the cake for these clips is they are all from games Bridges played as a freshman. It proves that there is potential for him to have two-way appeal while playing the four, which is where he’ll likely see the bulk of his playing time in the NBA.

A best-case scenario for Bridges is that he is able to develop into an Andre Iguodala-type. He hasn’t shown much in the playmaking department of his game (something that has separated Iguodala over the course of his career) but the makings of a versatile defensive forward are there. Also, any lack of ball handling or facilitation that Bridges has is made up for by him already being a superior shooter to Iguodala.

Either way, teams looking to fill roles around proven younger talent (i.e. Knicks, Suns, Sixers and Jazz) need players that offer the skills Bridges brings to the table, and finding the right home is going to be critical to Bridges’ progression in the NBA.

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Bridges did the unthinkable when he passed up the chance to become a lottery pick and a millionaire to spend another season at Michigan State. It is yet to be seen if he is able to have the legendary career he set out to achieve at East Lansing. The bigger question for Bridges is going to be if the extra year in school will ultimately benefit him in the long run.

We won’t know the answer to that for quite some time. But what we do know about Bridges is he has the game and build to become something more.