2018 NBA Mock Draft: Where did the prospects go?

With a franchise cornerstone and secondary scorer already in place in New York, the Knicks can safely take the highest-floor wing in the draft, Bridges, and watch his development into potentially something greater.

Alongside Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Frank Ntilikina, Bridges is the third or fourth offensive option, able to focus on his role as a 3-and-Der just as he does at Villanova. Bridges uses just 23.6 percent of the Wildcats’ possessions thanks to a minuscule turnover rate and incredible scoring efficiency. As he expands his game into the post and as a ball-handler, Bridges can only go up — the shooting will always be the baseline for his NBA value.

The wise NBA Draft sage Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer wrote about Bridges a couple weeks ago, noting that the biggest wing success stories — the guys who made their way from raw prospect to superstar — began as 3-and-D role players. Kawhi Leonard, whom the Spurs acquired on draft day in 2011, looked to be a hustle guy with a developing jumper before he won the 2013 NBA Finals MVP trophy and showed the world what was up. Paul George took a similar route from project to All-Star, and now serves as the second best player on a legitimate Finals dark horse in Oklahoma City.

“The interesting thing about guys like Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, and Paul George is they were all drafted in the late-lottery range where Bridges is expected to go. A 3-and-D skill set is a good baseline to start an NBA career,” Tjarks wrote.

I’m interested to see where Bridges’ post and driving games go once he hits the NBA, and whether we’re looking at him in a different light a few years from now.