It has been five years since the Philadelphia 76ers selected Mikal Bridges 10th in the 2018 NBA draft before sending him to the Phoenix Suns. In return, the Sixers received the 16th pick of that draft and a 2021 first-round pick.
The Sixers used the 16th pick on Zhaire Smith, who played 13 games for the Sixers, and they moved the 2021 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers in the Tobias Harris deal.
Bridges went on to be an important piece for the Suns; he helped them reach the NBA Finals in 2021. Now, he is with the Brooklyn Nets. In 27 games with them after the recent trade, Bridges averaged 26.1 points. Before he leads the Nets against the Sixers in first round of the playoffs, he recalled being upset about being traded to the Suns on draft night.
Bridges hopped on “The CJ McCollum Show” to discuss it:
I was about to tear up just because how crazy it was. I’m like ‘I’m really about to be home, my mom was for six years, I’ve been talking about this all year.’ Like that was the biggest thing of my senior year of college was like if Philly got the 10th pick, they’ll be dumb if they don’t get Mikal. Hometown kid, they 3-and-D guy like it was set up like. It was just set up for me to go and like the emotions was nuts. I remember being in the media room and I have my Sixers hat on and I’m sitting down and everybody in the Philly media’s sitting down and, I kid you not, like I know every person there. Like since high school and college like I’m sitting there and people raise their hand and I’m like, pointing at them like big smiles like ‘Oh! My guy!’ like ‘What up! Good to see you’.
Bridges then walked out and he was told the Sixers had sent him to the Suns.
I walked out they told me the news and I was literally pissed off. Like actually pissed off and it took me days after to like be appreciative of the moment like ‘Listen, Kal. Like you went top 10. Like you got drafted. Like I know is you’re in a moment. It’s human nature to be upset about about not going to place you want to go’ and it took me days to realize that, but I was pissed off that night. I didn’t go out. I stayed in my hotel room. I was literally — I was that was that man. For what? Like, what am I pissed off about? Like I went top 10 and my freaking dream. So that took me days to like really get over that. It was wild. It was really wild.
Mikal Bridges on being drafted and traded by 76ers:
“That was the biggest thing all of my senior year was Philly has the 10th pick, they’ll be dumb if they don’t get Mikal… It was just set up for me to go home.”
"I walk out of there and they told me the news and I was… pic.twitter.com/qtQMDqY91I
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) April 12, 2023
Bridges would have been the perfect complement to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons at the time in 2018. Of course, the Sixers still had significant success and were a Kawhi Leonard bounce away from possibly reaching the Eastern Conference finals that season, but Bridges’ skill set was exactly what the Sixers were missing.
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