Mikal Bridges

After finishing 12th in eight-category leagues in 2022-23, Bridges fell to 41st last year, mostly due to his free-throw percentage dropping from 89.5 percent to 81.4 -- his lowest mark since his rookie campaign. After serving as a role player in Phoenix, Bridges' stats ballooned in Brooklyn, but the Nets weren't competitive and shipped the forward to the Knicks to play with his college teammates -- Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. However, the Knicks weren't done yet. They made another blockbuster trade right before training camp, sending DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to Minnesota in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns. With many mouths to feed in New York, including a healthy OG Anunoby, Bridges' offensive stats are subject to drop after operating as the No. 1 option in Brooklyn. However, Bridges proved he could be a viable fantasy starter while assuming a secondary offensive role in Phoenix, finishing inside the top 35 in each of his final two full seasons with the Suns. In order to do that again, Bridges will need to get back to efficient offense and elite defensive production, which happens to be coach Tom Thibodeau's bread and butter.

Few players took a more significant leap than Bridges last season. The trade from Phoenix to Brooklyn instantly made Bridges a fantasy stud, seeing his averages skyrocket. In his 31 games with the Nets last year, Bridges averaged 25.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. He also had 2.5 three-pointers made a night while shooting 47.5 percent from the field, 89.4 percent from the free-throw line and 37.6 percent from three-point range. Those are fantastic numbers in a category leagues. This defensive stud is locked into 35-plus minutes per game and has never missed a contest in his five-year career. That's hard to fathom in today's NBA, but that's an underrated asset for a player seeing his stock rise through the roof. Brooklyn decided that Bridges would be their go-to player once he was the key piece of the Kevin Durant trade, posting a 30.3 percent usage rate since his acquisition. A player with this sort of repertoire getting that sort of usage is one of the best bets in fantasy, and he's expected to be a popular second-round selection.

Bridges can sometimes be overlooked in the Suns' rotation that includes Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. Still, Bridges proved once again last season that he can provide reliable fantasy results. Durability wasn't a concern for the 25-year-old last year, as he appeared in all 82 games, marking the second time he's done so over four seasons in the NBA. He also averaged a career-high 34.8 minutes per game -- the highest mark on the team. After shooting 42.5 percent from beyond the arc during the 2020-21 campaign, Bridges regressed slightly last season, converting 36.9 percent of his attempts from three-point range. However, he was still efficient from the floor overall, draining 53.4 percent of his field-goal attempts despite attempting a career-high 10.5 field goals per game. As a result, the 2018 first-rounder averaged a career-high 14.2 points to go with 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Bridges cooled off slightly during the postseason last year, but he was consistently productive during the regular season. Bridges is among the top three-and-D options in the league and should have ample opportunities to contribute during the 2022-23 season.

In 2020-21, Bridges established himself as a reliable and productive two-way player, displaying imposing defense against opposing teams' best players while improving his per-game fantasy production across the board, with increases in threes (1.9), points (13.5), rebounds (4.3), assists (2.1) and blocks (0.9). Bridges played the most total minutes (2,348) of any Phoenix starter and was an impressive 16th in the league in plus-minus. The 2021-22 season will be Bridges' fourth season in the league, and he is entering his prime. Bridges is the ultimate 3-and-D player (he ranked 15th last year in three-point percentage at 42.5%), and as part of Phoenix's young core, along with Booker, Ayton and Cam Johnson, we can expect him to continue to play big minutes. While Bridges may not be one of the top offensive options on the team, he is highly versatile enough to handle the ball, grab rebounds, hit the outside three and drive to the bucket. We may not have seen Bridges' ceiling yet, and he could potentially reward fantasy owners with another year of increases in stats across the board.

Bridges continued to serve as a formidable defensive presence while improving in several other categories during the 2019-20 season, and he's now primed for a starting small forward role in the wake of the mega-trade between the Suns and Thunder that saw Kelly Oubre go to Oklahoma City and Chris Paul come to Phoenix. Bridges was able to unwittingly prep for such responsibility when Oubre missed the last 15 games of last season with a knee injury, posting averages of 13.3 points (on 51.7 percent shooting, including 41.4 percent from three-point range), 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals across 36.5 minutes over that span and generating 12 double-digit scoring efforts, including one double-double. The third-year pro was able to boost his offensive contributions while maintaining his above-average defense, and he now stands to benefit from the addition of an elite ball distributor like the just-acquired Paul at point guard. Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton should still naturally serve as the top three offensive options the majority of the time, but Bridges projects to see his fair share of opportunities as well on a team that played at the ninth-fastest pace in the NBA last season (104.9 possessions per game). Additionally, with a full-time starting assignment, he'll be expected to continue furnishing solid numbers in other categories, potentially along the lines of that which he managed during the aforementioned 15-game sample.

Bridges is coming off a healthy and productive rookie season where he appeared in all 82 games for the Suns while also making 56 starts. He ended with averages of 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 steals across 29.5 minutes per game. He shot 33.5 percent from behind the arc on 3.8 attempts per game and 43 percent from the floor overall. Entering his second NBA season, Bridges is looking at what will likely be a role off the bench for Phoenix, as star shooting guard Devin Booker and Kelly Oubre are expected to be locked in as starters on the wing to open the campaign. Beyond that, it doesn't appear Bridges will be facing much competition for playing time, especially with fellow wing Josh Jackson being traded to Memphis this offseason, so Bridges should still see plenty of minutes as a key reserve for the rebuilding Suns. Additionally, Booker has played 54 and 64 games in each of the last two seasons respectively due to injury, and Bridges would likely see a significant boost in usage whenever the star guard is unable to play.

Bridges is coming off a three-year collegiate career at Villanova, where he won two National Championships and earned First-team All-Big East and Big East Tournament MVP honors as a junior. He averaged 17.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks across 32.1 minutes in his final campaign, showing off his two-way potential at the next level. Bridges was also a great spot up shooter and knocked down 51.4 percent of his field goal attempts and 43.5 percent of his three-pointers. While that typically would mean big minutes on a rebuilding team like the Suns, Bridges still could struggle to find playing time early on with guys like Devin Booker, T.J. Warren and Josh Jackson all present in the wing rotation. Bridges appears to be the better shooter between himself and Jackson, but Jackson had an impressive final stretch of his rookie campaign last year and appears in line for a slight uptick in his role. As a result, Bridges could have trouble reaching or surpassing the 20-minute mark most nights, which should keep him off the radar in most Fantasy formats.