NBA 3 goals for Nets’ Mikal Bridges heading into training camp
Brooklyn Nets guard Mikal Bridges comes into the 2023-24 season with a lot on his plate as he’s expected to lead the team back to the playoffs and hopefully, on a deep playoff run. Bridges must be a better version of himself if he is going to change the fortunes of the Nets, at least according to their expectations.
Most sportsbooks expect Brooklyn to either miss the playoffs completely or to have go through the play-in tournament to make it to the playoffs. While that seems accurate given how much the Nets have lost over since this past February, Bridges has to help the team rise above the lowered expectations.
With how well Bridges played last season in a Nets uniform, what does he have to get better at? That’s what we’ll look at in this piece as even though Bridges has been getting a lot of hype recently, and rightfully so, here are three goals for him to reach to become the All-Star that Brooklyn needs next season:
Improve Playmaking
While Bridges was clearly the best offensive player for the Nets this past season, it was clear that there was a difference between him being the lead scorer compared to Kevin Durant/Kyrie Irving. Bridges had few issues getting to his sweet spots on the floor so that he could score, but as he averaged 2.7 assists per game during his time with Brooklyn, which is still a good number, the Nets will need more playmaking from him if they want to beat the odds.
Take More Shots At The Rim
Bridges has shown that he can be one of the better scorers in the league with the way that he’s able to use his height and length to shoot over almost any defender that comes his way. As we saw in the playoffs between the Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers, Bridges has an uncanny ability to attack the rim. He will need to exploit that ability more if he is going to make himself a harder player to stop on the offensive end of the floor.
Build More Strength
This is less of a goal that needs to be accomplished immediately and more of a goal that he should strive towards as he starts drawing more attention from NBA defenses. Bridges is stronger than he looks, but as with almost every player in the league, getting stronger would make Bridges more effective in situations where he has to switch onto the opposing team’s power forward/center so at least it’s not an automatic foul/bucket for the other team.
