Miles Bridges is currently leading his team in minutes per game at 34.1. I’m not sure what to make of that information. I mean, he’s just Miles Bridges. He’s not a particularly good scorer at this point in his career and he’s averaging more turnovers than assists. Does his status as minutes leader on the team make him the “tank commander” in place of Terry Rozier? If Nic Batum wasn’t dead, would that effect Bridges’ minutes?
Bridges’ 34.1 MPG per game also puts him 26th in the league at this point. Even though most teams have only played six or seven games, that’s enough to get an idea of which players coaches are prioritizing. If you subscribe to the notion that the players who play the most are the best players (or at least the ones most vital to their team’s success), that means only 25 players in the NBA are better than Bridges.
Some players better than Bridges this season: OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, LeBron James, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Some players worse than Bridges this season: Russell Westbrook, Kristaps Porzingis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, P.J. Washington (barely)
This is like that time that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Marcus Morris led the league in MPG per game while they were on the Pistons. I didn’t understand that either. Some things are just never meant to be understood, I guess.