Has Miles Bridges secured his spot in the Hornets' core?

Miles Bridges is playing really good basketball lately.

Mar 12, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) tries to work past Atlanta Hawks forward Georges Niang (20) and guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mady Mertens-Imagn Images / Mady Mertens-Imagn Images

All season long, Miles Bridges has mostly played pretty well for the Charlotte Hornets. He was averaging nearly 20 points per game and, save for a stint on the bench early on in the season, has been consistently available in the lineup.

Recently, though, Bridges has taken his game to a level really not seen before. He's been with Charlotte his entire career, but he's never really played as well as he has lately. He sat out last night's blowout loss for rest, understandable after how much and how well he'd played, but otherwise has been on fire for the most part.

He did have just seven points in a struggle-filled outing for everyone against the Los Angeles Clippers, but has pretty much been the Hornets' best player for about a month. Is that going to convince the front office to keep him around and continue building with him?

Including his seven-point, 30% shooting stinker against the Clippers, Bridges is averaging 26.9 points per game in March. That includes a 46-point outburst against the East's best team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also had 35 in a win over the Miami Heat and 35 in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

He's doing it with good shooting numbers, too. It's not just volume. He's shooting 49.4% from the field in March and 37.5% from three. Bridges is chipping in eight rebounds a game and nearly five assists, too.

Mar 14, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) during the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Ultimately, though, this all should only increase his value. The better Bridges plays, the more teams will be interested in him. The better he plays, the easier it will be to convince someone to take on his $25 million AAV contract. Unless he somehow starts playing at an All-NBA level, the Hornets' mind should not change.

He's still just shy of 27 years old, which already didn't really fit the timeline. With the moves the Hornets' front office is making now, they're not really expecting to compete at a high level for at least a couple of years. Is a nearly-30 Bridges worth having in a few years because he played extremely well for a spurt in a lost season in 2025? Not really.

The Hornets were reportedly open to dealing him at the trade deadline this year. They tried to trade Mark Williams, a young, talented center who is still much younger than Bridges and cheaper, so it wouldn't make sense to prioritize Bridges over Williams. If they traded Williams (before it was rescinded), they're not above trading Bridges, too.

It's nice to see him turn in some good performances, and it does at least give the Hornets one good player this month. However, it's not enough to justify sticking with a bad contract for someone who's already aged out of the current window and certainly wouldn't fit in a full-blown rebuild.

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