The draft of the class of 2018 is a year, from the performance of the current players: Doncic, Trae Young has become a super giant, Ayton, Porter Jr., Jalen Jr., etc. have also shown the potential of superstars, and the role players are naturally not willing to show weakness. Mikael Bridges was drafted by his hometown team, the Philadelphia 76ers, with the 10th pick in the first round in 2018, but was eventually traded to the Phoenix Suns; after less than four seasons of experience, he has now grown into the league's top 3D, and has a place in the DPOY list, and signed a four-year, $90.9 million contract.
What about another player known as "Little Joe"? Is he the younger brother of "Big Joe"? Not really. Miles Bridges was selected by the Clippers with the 12th pick in the first round of '18, and the Clippers traded him to the Charlotte Hornets, giving him the opportunity to start. Both are small forward flanks, but "Little Joe" is more physically important than "Big Joe", preferring a heavy breakout dunk style of play, which is relatively slow. However, both have become the league's flanking superstars to be reckoned with.
The Hornets, though high and low, finished in the playoffs with a tenth-place finish in the East, and were eliminated 103-132 in the competition with the Hawks and missed the playoffs. But so what? The team has a future talented point guard like a three-goal team, a former superstar like Hayward, a tough player like Oubre, and a future star like Joe Bridges Jr., and the team has a chance to start over in the new season with a slight adjustment, so as to fully impact the playoffs. When we can see the future full of hope, any hard work will be worth it.
From the data point of view, the Hornets have 7 people averaging double-double points per game, which shows that this team has the combat strength attribute of the whole people. If it were not for Hayward's injury, the team's record would not have slipped to the tenth place, which can only be said to be bad luck. Although Sanshou is the leader of the team, he is not the scoring king, and Little Joe has won the scoring king of the team with absolute strength. This season, Bridges averaged 35.5 minutes per game, 20.2 points, 7 rebounds and 3.8 assists, shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from three-point range.
His average score per game ranks first on the team, rebounds per game ranks second, and assists per game ranks third, which is almost all-Star stats. After fellow Porter Jr., Big Joe, and Jaren Jr. have all been given early contract extensions, he declined a four-year, 60 million early contract extension last season offseason. There is no doubt that Little Joe wants to prove his strength with data and then fight for a maximum salary contract again. According to BR reporter Jack Fisher, the Hornets will renew Bridges with a five-year, $173 million top salary this offseason.
Today, Little Joe can already get 20 points per game, but why can he make so much progress? Although many fans may feel that in order to get enough chips to fight for the top salary contract, the little fairy feels that this is inseparable from his heart. The basketball geniuses of the class of 2018 have cashed in their talents, but Little Joe is still so inconspicuous and ignored, so he always has to do something? So in last offseason, Joe Jr. traveled to Los Angeles to consult Chris Johnson and developed a rigorous training plan.
In this almost as diligent arrangement as Kobe Bryant's "Los Angeles at four o'clock in the morning", Bridges' skills such as possession, switching offense, turning around, and defending have slowly improved, just waiting for the arrival of the new season. Later, we saw that he became the team's leading scorer, and he was able to grab the team's second most rebounds, and he could deliver wonderful assists, and he was no longer the humble 3D role player, but a potential superstar who integrated attack and defense. So, who would dare to think of it as a 3D player? The future of Little Joe is unlimited.