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Michigan State’s Miles Bridges meets with Cavs at NBA Draft Combine

By Quenton S. Albertie

DETROIT, MI - MARCH 16: G Miles Bridges (22) of the Michigan State Spartans and F Nick Ward (44) of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate after a basket was scored during the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship First Round game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Bucknell Bison on March 16, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - MARCH 16: G Miles Bridges (22) of the Michigan State Spartans and F Nick Ward (44) of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate after a basket was scored during the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship First Round game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Bucknell Bison on March 16, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Cleveland Cavaliers met with Michigan State University’s Miles Bridges at the NBA Draft Combine. The 20-year-old sophomore swingman who would be an upgrade on the wings if selected by the Cavs in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Hearing that the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have the 8th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, met with do-it-all swingman Miles Bridges at the NBA Draft Combine is the type of news that should stick to your ribs like a good meal if you’re a fan of the Wine and Gold.

Not only is the Michigan State University product built with the same grit, passion and intensity as those hardy Celtics that have the Cavaliers playing with the backs against the walls in the Eastern Conference Finals, his versatile skillset, an elite physical profile and comfort playing off-ball brings a combination of skills to the shooting guard position that hasn’t been seen since Larry Hughes.

Miles averaged 17. 0 points per game in his two years with the Spartans but struggles to make his pull-up jumpers in his first season, scoring 0.51 points per possession on pull-ups. He improved his mechanics as a sophomore and was scoring 0.79 points per possession on pull-up jumpers by the time March Madness began.

With a career three-point shooting percentage of 37.5 percent and a free-throw percentage that jumped from 68.5 percent as a freshman to 85.3 percent in his sophomore season, he certainly has the work ethic and shooting foundation needed to become a go-to scorer at the NBA level.

Nonetheless, scoring isn’t the only thing that matters. Especially with Miles.

While the 6-foot-7, 230 pound swingman can thrive as a spot-up shooter, slasher and operate as a pick-and-roll ball-handler (1.02 points per possession as a sophomore) and handle playmaking responsibilities for the Cavaliers in spots, his defense is what’s most impressive.

Miles is a versatile and intelligent defender who can make plays on the perimeter and the interior (1.5 blocks per game as a freshman). He’s not going to be locking down guys like a Kawhi Leonard but he’ll hound players when left out in space and make the proper rotations with precognition and hustle.

Without many versatile, athletic and intelligent defenders in their backcourt, the Cavaliers are consistently in a difficult position defensively. Even LeBron James and J.R. Smith, their two best perimeter defenders on the wing, tend to fall asleep off-ball or don’t give the effort to make a closeout.

Not to be ignored, Miles’ rebounding prowess (career average of 7.6 rebounds per game) will end defensive possessions and those pesky offensive rebounds the Cavaliers tend to give up when their backcourt players are under-the-basket would be harder for opposing teams to come by.

Miles would be a breath of fresh air on the wings.

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*All stats gathered from www.sports-reference.com and The Stepien