Miles Bridges Move Has Completely Changed How the Suns' Offseason Is Viewed

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns' acquisition of Miles Bridges continues to change how the team's offseason is viewed, on both a local and national level.

The Suns, entering the summer, didn't quite have some moves mapped out on their Bingo cards. Phoenix was largely expected to handle in-house business, and that was done by re-signing Jordan Goodwin, Collin Gillespie and Mark Williams.

That was expected, and from there, the Suns were thought to be eying the small margins they could to improve the team, whether it be with their initial second-round pick or a minor addition via free agency.

The draft (Koa Peat) and free agency (Luke Kennard) both welcomed fresh blood to Jordan Ott's second iteration of Suns basketball, though the move to acquire Bridges via trade from the Charlotte Hornets was a bit shocking.

Perhaps not by the player himself, who was consistently tied to Phoenix for some time before the Suns pulled the trigger, yet more so on what the organization gave up and the fall-out that will ensue as a result, both on the court and gauging the temperature of the fan base for off-court reasons.

Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley labeled the Suns' offseason as "tainted" due to the Bridges move.

The Suns made a lot of smart moves this summer. The prices paid to re-sign Collin Gillespie, Mark Williams and Jordan Goodwin all made sense. So did buying low on Peat at the draft (No. 30 pick). And spending taxpayer midlevel money on Kennard, who's had the league's best three-point percentage in three of the past five seasons," he wrote.

"But what was Phoenix thinking with the Bridges trade? You know, besides continuing construction of their NBA shrine to all things Michigan State. He's an inefficient volume scorer with a career net differential of 0.0 points per 100 possessions. And he needs a new deal between now and next summer. Who else would've seen this combination as being worth an unprotected future first, Allen and O'Neale?"

The trade package of the first, Allen and O'Neale for Bridges was fairly hefty, especially since Bridges is due an extension before his contract runs out at the end of this season. With such a hefty haul sent for him, the Suns are essentially committing themselves to a player they haven't seen play in their own system.

The on-court fit with Bridges has been questioned by plenty, including probably the smartest Suns voice in Arizona Sports' Kellan Olson:

"Bridges on defense has ranged in his eight-year career from moderately impactful to not good, more consistently landing in the latter range," he wrote.

"He will have to be the best he’s ever been at a 4 spot where defensive versatility is vital. And on the topic of his position, Bridges’ uninspiring rebounding numbers gotta go way up. He’s at 1.1 offensive rebounds per game over his career and that won’t fly with what head coach Jordan Ott wants in the possession game."

It's a decision that will be heavily debated and scrunitized until the Suns take the court and justify his presence.

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