NBA Draft 2018: Five perfect first round selections

1. Mikal Bridges — Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers struggled mightily to contain the myriad of wings the Boston Celtics deployed against them in the playoffs this season. Robert Covington struggled mightily against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and company. Adding a player like Mikal Bridges would give Brett Brown a quality defender to slow that sort of player down.

Clearly, the Sixers have bigger targets in free agency, but that doesn’t mean they should ignore adding Bridges too. It’s not as if his selection would impact the team’s ability to fit someone like LeBron James or Paul George into the starting lineup. In today’s game, you can never have enough wings who can defend and shoot the ball from three.

At the very least, Bridges projects to be a solid defender at the next level. His length does give him a chance to be better than that in time. Philadelphia could at least count on him to be a competitive wing defender as a rookie.

His ability to shoot the ball from 3 isn’t up for debate. He shot over 43 percent for Villanova last season on 239 attempts from behind the arc. Bridges is especially dangerous from the corner. Playing alongside talented creators like Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons would give him lots of open looks from the outside.

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If the basketball fit isn’t enough, you also have to consider the fact that his mom already works in human resources for the team. Bridges is a perfect fit both the Sixers both and on off the floor. Philadelphia should cross their fingers that he’s still on the board at No. 10.