Did the Hornets make the right decision in keeping Miles Bridges?

The Charlotte Hornets pulled off a shocking blockbuster trade leading up to the deadline, but it wasn't for Miles Bridges. The forward who signed a $75 million deal in the offseason survived his first NBA Trade Deadline since then, and he'll remain a member of the Hornets until at least the offseason.

Was that the right decision? Yes and no. In the short term, it is the right decision. The Hornets front office has been very forward-thinking, which is why they traded Mark Williams away. But they can't gut the current-day team down to a shell of itself in pursuit of those future assets.

Had they also traded Bridges, the current lineup, with injuries accounted for, would be Nick Smith Jr., Dalton Knecht, Josh Green, Daquan Jeffries, and Moussa Diabate. Eventually, Jusuf Nurkic, LaMelo Ball, and possibly Tidjane Salaun would slide into the lineup, but that's still not an inspiring group.

The Hornets simply couldn't afford to destroy the current roster in its entirety. No NBA team is going to willingly and so obviously tank in that way, and honestly, it wouldn't even work if the Hornets did try to do that. They've never had the lottery luck, and they'd have to finish worse than the Washington Wizards, which is a tall task.

In the long term, keeping Miles Bridges was the wrong decision. He's nearly 27 now, and the Hornets are obviously not worrying about the immediate future. That's why a 23-year-old center was traded for a package that involves a 2031 first-round pick.

Trading Bridges would allow them to get younger, and doing it now would've maximized his value. For every season that passes, that's less control his new team would have. That does tank the return a little bit. Next trade deadline, he'll be worth a little less than he would've been now. The following one, which would come ahead of his free agency, he'd have very little value.

This doesn't mean the Hornets can't still move on. They were reportedly very open to trading him, so it wouldn't be a surprise if his market is revisited after the season. Without Mark Williams, Brandon Miller, and LaMelo Ball temporarily sidelined, Bridges' usage will go up, and with better stats, he could up his value as a player.

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