At a press conference announcing Steve Clifford as head coach on Tuesday, Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak sounded pretty unequivocal about the team’s desire to retain Miles Bridges, who will be a restricted free agent once the team tenders him a qualifying offer.
“As an organization, we love Miles. We’re going to bring him back,” Kupchak said (video link via Bally Sports: Hornets). “He’s been great for the franchise and I believe with his work ethic he’s only going to get better.”
Kupchak’s statement is notable because Shams Charania reported last week that rival executives believe Bridges will command a maximum-salary contract or something close to it, and Charania’s sources believe Charlotte may be hesitant to match an offer sheet worth the max.
In an ESPN appearance on Monday, Brian Windhorst said Bridges isn’t receiving a max offer from Charlotte at this point.
“He’s not being offered, from what I am told, a max contract by the Charlotte Hornets right now,” Windhorst said (video link from Talkin’ NBA). “So he’s gonna go out in the marketplace starting on Thursday (or) Friday and see if he can get that offer from somewhere else, so we’re gonna find out.”
When Kupchak signed an extension last month, he said the club wanted to keep Bridges around. “Our intention is to keep Miles long-term, yes. He’s a big part of our future,” he said at the time. Free agency starts in just two days, and Kupchak hasn’t publicly wavered in his commitment to Bridges.
It’s been rumored that the Hornets are trying to gauge the trade market for a number of players to accommodate a new contract for Bridges after the forward had the best season of his career in 2021/22. The 24-year-old posted career-highs in points (20.2), rebounds (7.0) and assists (3.8), along with a .491/.331/.802 shooting slash line in 80 games (35.5 minutes per contest).
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report previously stated the Pacers and Pistons might pursue Bridges, and Marc Stein has heard Detroit is a fan of Bridges as well. However, both of those reports came prior to the draft last week, so it’s unclear if the two Central Division teams are still interested in tying up their significant cap space by signing Bridges to an offer sheet that can be matched by Charlotte, especially given Kupchak’s statement.
Word from Bridges camp is it’s either a max in Charlotte or he’s going to Detroit. Not sure I see the ability to achieve his perceived potential but he is certainly a very exciting scorer. Hope he stays with the Buzz
Good b/c they have a really strong collection at the 3/4 spots, and have a lot of potential versatility, and I think they would have done more the last 2 years, if not for injuries at unfortunate times. They need Bouknight to be what he can be off the bench this year, with his shooting from the guard spot
I would go to Detroit if I’m Bridges. Cade is LaMelo-like so he’ll get the ball, he’ll be back in his home state, and Detriot is going to roll-out the brinks trucks for him. Sorry Charlotte. Detroit will be really fun this year if they sign him!
He is restricted free agent and can only sign four years with Detroit so the hornet will match
I think the Pistons should offer him a 1 year max contract. Charlotte will match it, but then he is unrestricted next year and can play wherever he wants.
This is actually a very interesting way for Detroit to go….
I don’t think Charlotte will match 4-years $100 million for Bridges. That’s crazy for them but not Detroit.
I strongly believe Miles is not a max player. Near max maybe. John collins contract territory. $125M for 5 years should be the maximum.
I agree, i see him as a John Collins lvl of player I value Collins a lil bit more, but that money seems fair. Definetely not a max player.
He’s not a max player, he’s a better younger Tobias Harris type of player with better hops and defense, but ya John Collins 5/125 is probably right. He is a below league average 3pt shooter, hes a good scorer and he makes his FTs. Is he going to be more than a 20-7 guy tho? Idk, this is probably his ceiling, not his floor if they intend to have any other talent on the floor with him besides Melo, like the # of FGA is the real thing you need to project for him. Will he get more than 15 overall shots a game at the same efficiency? If not, then he isn’t a max guy. Like Khris Middleton is a tweener max guy and he takes 21 a game. They had to max him to keep him. If Deteoit doesn’t max him, then he’s not a max guy and the match. Simple.
I posted this on a Knix/Clips page, so I repeat it on a more relevant page:
Possible conspiracy: Charlotte trading the 13 pick for three seconds and a mid-to-low ’23 first was a stretch considering they prioritized gathering FA money for Bridges/Martin after drafting a center. They should have held out to send Detroit some salary instead, which would have hurt their Miles Bridges bid.
I bet they got some assurances from Detroit that they will not bid max on Bridges. Note the word from Detroit was fast post-draft, that they not be bidding on Bridges but spend on “smaller” pieces. Why?— makes sense to bid— some Piston fans were already putting him on their roster.
This will act to supress Bridges’ salary, likely illegal or at least anti-CBA, so their agreement and/or mechanism utilized is kept secret.
All the public will see is Detroit NOT bidding on Bridges, Bridges signing for $20-25mil as previously predicted and valued, and thus, no upward pressure is made on wages leaguewide.
The “rival executives” quoted in the article were equating the bids they expect for Bridges to be the valuation of Bridges. Thus the max. But this depends on the bids coming in. He was set at $20-25 earlier.
It would not be typical of Indy to bid max on an outsider, but who knows.
Alot of teams would love to have that Wing in Bridges.
Anyways Cha already has Hayward on max & Rozier 20mil + & only teams w $ to spend for max are Det & Spurs.
But Cha most likely matches any offer so you need to do a sign n trade.
I’d love to see Bridges in Cle.
As a SF they need…
Alot of teams love Bridges but I doubt he gets max. Prob 22mil – 24mil per yr.