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Get to Know: Mikal Bridges

You hear it so often nowadays: in today’s NBA, you need lengthy, switch-happy players that can spread the floor and create proper spacing. The days of one-tool players are fading, with the age of position-less basketball prevalent more than ever.

Mikal Bridges, unlike your usual lottery selections, wasn’t a highly touted prospect. He ranked 81st in the country coming out of high school, attending Great Valley High School just outside Philadelphia.

What makes Bridges such an intriguing selection is his rapid improvement from deep combined with his defensive acumen. Bridges improved from deep each of his three seasons at Nova — 29.9 percent, 39.3 percent and 43.5 percent, respectively.

Standing at 6’7” and carrying a 7’0” wingspan, the three-year Wildcats vet is the best two-way prospect in the 2018 NBA Draft. While still needing to develop NBA strength, he’s polished enough on both ends of the floor to contribute immediately to an NBA team.

Often compared to Kawhi Leonard, Bridges has the basketball IQ and awareness to potentially develop into a player of Leonard’s stature in the course of his pro career.

Best Quote:

"Definitely. If you pick an NBA player, that would definitely be the guy," Villanova head coach Jay Wright, when asked of the Bridges and Kawhi Leonard comparisons. "I think [Mikal] could develop into that kind of player, maybe a little more offensive-oriented when he comes in. He has to continue to build his body to be as effective as Kawhi was defensively and in rebounding. Very, very similar."

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