Miles Bridges has long developed a reputation as one of the league’s most athletic high-flyers in his two seasons with the Hornets. It’s not a shock, then, that the moment LaMelo Ball stepped onto the practice court in Charlotte, he pin-pointed Bridges as his lob target.
The pairing has already produced a number of highlights this preseason. No player has assisted Bridges more than Ball at four times. Three of those have been alley-oops and the one that wasn’t was perhaps Ball’s best pass of the preseason, a behind-the-back one in transition.
“The connection with me and Melo, it just clicked right away,” Bridges said. “As soon as he came here and it was our first practice, he just told me he’s going throw it up to me wherever. It’s been great.”
Ball and Bridges’ impact on the court together hasn’t simply been through alley-oops. Through the first three preseason games, the two have played together for 35 minutes, accounting for over half of each of Ball (62) and Bridges (60) total minutes.
Albeit in a small sample size, when sharing the court this preseason, Ball and Bridges have a 113.3 offensive rating, a 92.8 defensive rating and a net rating of 20.5. Compared to Ball’s -50.0 net rating with Bridges not alongside him and Bridges -3.7 net rating in the same scenario, it’s a noteworthy stat and one head coach James Borrego has taken notice of.
“I like those two and pick and roll,” he said. “I really do. That’s on me to get them involved more and pick and roll, especially in transition. You know, when Melo comes off and transition and Miles is flying into that early drag pick and roll and he just slips out of there and gets to the rim, that’s a tough cover in transition. It’s a lot of pressure on the rim with Melo getting downhill, Miles rolling to the rim. That’s on me to get that more apart of our offense moving forward.”
Borrego’s decision not to move Bridges into the starting lineup to replace the injured Gordon Hayward in the team’s third preseason game could be at least partially tied to keeping Bridges in his current role alongside Ball.
As a player who has operated heavily in the pick and roll in his brief professional career, having a teammate like Bridges as a running mate in those scenarios is a huge bonus for Ball. His versatility as a roller to the rim or pick-and-pop threat is unlike any big Ball has played with before.
It very well could be a big part of the team and their personal futures. But for now, at the very least, it will continue to provide plenty of highlight-reel alley-oops and dunks.