The Charlotte Hornets have acquired the draft rights to forward Miles Bridges (12th overall pick) from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (11th overall pick) and two future second-round draft picks during tonight’s 2018 NBA Draft.
Bridges, a 6-7 forward from Michigan State, was a unanimous 2017-18 All-Big Ten First Team selection and he also earned 2017-18 consensus Second Team All-American honors. He led Michigan State in scoring in scoring (17.0 ppg), ranked second in rebounding (7.0 rpg) and third in assists (2.7 apg) during the 2017-18 campaign. Following his sophomore campaign, he was a finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award, given to the top men’s collegiate small forward, and a top-10 finalist for the Naismith National Player of the Year. He was the first Michigan State freshman or sophomore player to average at least 17.0 points per game since Shawn Respert in 1992-93.
As a freshman in 2016-17, the Flint, Mich. native was the Big Ten Freshman of the year after averaging 16.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 28 contests. He was the only Division-I freshman in the nation in the last 25 years to average at least 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists and return for his sophomore season.
