Is Bringing Back Miles Bridges the Right Decision?

Bridges recently signed his qualifying offer to remain with the Charlotte Hornets.

What Miles Bridges did a year ago is something he'll never be able to take back. It's going to live with him forever. 

But at some point, we all knew that his return to basketball would become a big topic of discussion. 

Should he be allowed back? Should he return to Charlotte? What kind of deal could he get? Would he be suspended?

A week into the month of July and we finally have all the answers. 

Friday afternoon, Bridges officially signed a qualifying tender for $7.9 million to remain with the Charlotte Hornets for one year. He will, however, be required to sit out the first ten games of the season to complete his suspension handed down by the NBA.

Is this the right deal for both sides? 

Yes, it is. 

And I'm strictly talking about it from a basketball perspective because I don't have all the facts in regard to the incident, so it would be unfair for me to put much of an opinion that side of it. 

The signing gives the Hornets their leading scorer and rebounder back from the 2021-22 season and on a very cheap deal considering he was headed for a max contract just last summer prior to the start of free agency. If the two sides had agreed to a multi-year deal, I would have immediately tabbed it as a bad decision.

It's not a big risk for the obvious reasons of it being a one-year deal and very little money. The risk does come in, though, with how Bridges handles himself off the court and how he performs on it after being away from the game for a year. 

This is a prove it deal. If Bridges shows he can be the same player he was the last time we saw him on the floor and maybe then some, he'll get a pretty nice payday next summer. If he does have the same impact, it will also put the Hornets back in a position to compete for a playoff spot. 

For Miles, this is ultimately where he wants to be. He loves Charlotte, the organization, and of course, his teammates. Going to a new city immediately after the whole situation I imagine would have been a difficult transition, especially when a portion of that team's fanbase may not agree with the decision to sign him. Not to mention, learning a new system and having to gain the trust of a new staff/front office would also be challenging. 

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