5 best NBA Draft prospects in the 2018 Final Four

1. Mikal Bridges

Kansas’ win over Duke made it almost certain that Bridges will be the only lottery pick to play in this year’s Final Four. It takes little more than a few minutes of watching Bridges to see his appeal to NBA teams, and there is no team in the league that couldn’t use what he brings to the table. His arms are almost comically long and make him a versatile and disruptive defender. He’s not overwhelmingly explosive, but he has no problem sliding across three or four positions on defense, and his length compensates for any ground he may give up. Bridges can smother some of college basketball’s most potent scorers:

He doesn’t impose his will on the game in quite the same way as the absolute best prospects in this class do, but he seldom stands out in a negative way, either. Bridges understands his capabilities and rarely overstretches them. If a shot or drive doesn’t materialize within the flow of the offense, he’s happy to move the ball along without forcing something that is not there.

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Bridges shoots nearly 44 percent on six 3-point attempts per game and has grown more comfortable this year shooting on the move or off screens. His stroke contains the slightest trace of a hitch, but the results are inarguable:

Bridges is already 21, and will still need to fill out his frame, but his ability to fit with and contribute to any team right away has him firmly in the lottery discussion despite relatively limited upside. He might have as high of a floor of any wing in the draft, and depending on the ecosystem in which he spends his first few years in the NBA, could have just as high of a ceiling as well. At the very least, Bridges should be a solid starter capable of plugging any hole on a good team; at best, he morphs into an elite two-way wing, the most valuable commodity in the NBA.