A year after winning 43 games and looking like one of the NBA teams on the rise, the Charlotte Hornets lost their sting in 2023, winning just 27 games, all while Miles Bridges, their leading scorer from the year before, sat out the entire season.
Except, unlike in many other scenarios where an injury mars an entire season, Bridges’ absence wasn’t due to any type of medical setback. Instead, Bridges was suspended for 30 games after being involved in a domestic violence incident in July 2022. He served 20 of those last season and will be out for the first ten games of the 2023-24 league year.
It’s a complicated scenario for the 25-year-old Michigan native. Bridges was set to become a restricted free agent last offseason, where he appeared in line to receive a maximum contract offer from the Hornets or another interested team. But now Bridges will once again enter free agency, where he will be able to sign a contract with any franchise he chooses.
The Hornets would still like to retain the athletic wing this offseason, according to ESPN, but now that his legal situation is settled and most of his punishment has been served, Bridges could easily attract outside interest.
Considering Bridges showed he was capable of averaging 20.2 points per game the last time he played, expect his market to heat up later this summer. What type of offer he might receive after dealing with legal trouble and sitting out for an entire season remains to be seen, but we should have our answer soon enough.
Related: Top 2023 NBA free agents: Best 100 available with positional breakdowns