The 2022-23 season was an interesting one for the Brooklyn Nets. In a season that started with championship expectations, the Nets’ season ended with just trying to hold on to a playoff spot after trading away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to end the superstar experiment once and for all.
At one point, Brooklyn was regarded as one of the main contenders in the Eastern Conference with Durant and Irving leading the way. Once the trade deadline came and went, the Nets had a completely different team led by budding star wing Mikal Bridges.
Not to mention, Brooklyn went through a coaching change after Steve Nash was fired following a 2-5 start to this season. Jacque Vaughn is now the head man of a team that is currently in flux thanks to the trades of Durant and Irving. While the offseason is still fresh, it’s a good time to review all of the Nets who played this season starting with: Mikal Bridges.
(All stats are courtesy of basketball-reference.com)
2022-23 Stats (W/Nets):
- 26.1 PPG
- 4.5 RPG
- 2.7 APG
- 47.5% Field-Goal Shooting
- 37.6% Three-Point Shooting
- 89.4% Free-Throw Shooting
2022-23 Stats (W/Nets):
- 21.3 PER
- 60.7% true-shooting
- 30.3% usage
- 1.7 offensive win shares
- 0.8 defensive win shares
- 3.3 Box Plus-Minus
- 1.2 Value Over Replacement Player
2022-23 Achievements:
- Named Eastern Conference Player of the Week on April 3rd
- Ninth in free-throw shooting percentage (89.5%)
- First in games played (83) and overall minutes played (2963).
Contract:
- 2023-24: $21.7 million
- 2024-25: $23.3 million
- 2025-26: $24.9 million
Takeaways:
Mikal Bridges came to Brooklyn as a main component of the Kevin Durant trade that happened at the trade deadline. It was something that clearly bothered him as he became familiar with the Phoenix Suns fanbase and the community. However, what Bridges showed in Phoenix whenever someone like Devin Booker was hurt came to fruition in Brooklyn in ways no one could have foreseen.
Bridges played 31 games (27 regular-season games and 4 playoff games) as a Brooklyn Nets this season and what he showed was quite impressive. In the regular-season, he showed that he could be a main scoring option when called upon as he amassed four 40-point games and eight 30-point games.
In the playoffs, Bridges did not match his regular-season production, but his play was still impressive nonetheless. In four games against the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers that ended in a sweep, Bridges 23.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 42.9% from the field and 40% from three-point land. Along with most of his stats being worse than his regular-season averages, his free-throw shooting suffered as he shot just 78.3% from the foul line.
Overall, Bridges showed more than what Brooklyn could have hoped for when they acquired him in the Durant trade. At times, people around the NBA said that the way Bridges played, shooting mid-range jumpshots all game or catching the ball off of pin-down screens as examples, looked as if Durant never left. While Bridges has a lot of improvement to make to get to Durant’s level, his performance this past season laid the groundwork for a player who could become an All-Star one day.
