The Villanova Wildcats were the best team in college basketball this season and, while that does not always ensure the ultimate achievement of cutting down the nets at the end of the campaign, Jay Wright’s team was able to do just that in dominant fashion. While Villanova was a certainly a complete team, the Wildcats boasted only one likely NBA lottery pick and on Tuesday junior wing Mikal Bridges officially announced his decision to follow his rising stock to the next level.
Bridges appeared on ESPN to announce his decision and, within the confines of an interview, he acknowledged that it is arguably the best time for a player of his skill set to enter the league. The 21-year-old referenced the “move toward position-less basketball” and, at this point, Bridges is the most seamless fit of any prospect when it comes to filling a two-way role on an NBA team with shooting on one end and high-level defensive potential on the other.
Though Bridges is not a one-and-done prospect like many of his counterparts likely to land in the lottery, there is a level of polish to his game that is appealing. In three seasons at Villanova, the 6’7 wing connected on 40 percent of his three-point attempts and that peaked with a 43.5 percent effort over the course of his junior campaign. Beyond that, Bridges flashed additional capability as an offensive creator during his third college season and, on the defensive end, he uses a 7’2 wingspan to create havoc while possessing enough strength and quickness to hold up in switches against a variety of players.
It might be fair to suggest that Bridges will not boast the highest upside in this draft but he is on the (very) short list when it comes to bringing an immensely high floor to the table. Beyond that, the soon-to-be NBA swingman referenced players like Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, both of whom were seen in a similar vein when entering the draft, and a team at the next level will be picking Bridges with expectation of versatility and stability with the hope of something more.
