Miles Bridges entered Thursday’s trade deadline as a player to watch, as his name got kicked around in potential deals in the previous few days. All of this came with a pretty big caveat: Bridges, who took the qualifying offer from the Charlotte Hornets before this season, had the ability to veto any trade if he wanted.
It turns out Bridges won’t even get to the point of being traded. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Bridges told the Hornets that he would not approve of any trade, meaning he’s going to stay in Charlotte going forward. Marc Stein confirmed the news.
Told the same as Windy: Miles Bridges and agent Rich Paul have informed the Hornets that they will not waive Bridges’ one-year veto rights on a trade even if Charlotte had a deal for him today.https://t.co/P3Pz2hsQQh https://t.co/jveSijfOXF
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 8, 2024
Told the same as Windy: Miles Bridges and agent Rich Paul have informed the Hornets that they will not waive Bridges’ one-year veto rights on a trade even if Charlotte had a deal for him today.https://t.co/P3Pz2hsQQh https://t.co/jveSijfOXF
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 8, 2024
There is a financial incentive for Bridges, who did not play last season and missed the first 10 games of this year in the aftermath of his arrest due on domestic violence charges in June of 2022, to stay with the Hornets, as a trade means that he would give up his Bird Rights ahead of unrestricted free agency in the summer. Phoenix was the team most closely linked to a potential Bridges deal, although it is unclear what the Suns would have given up to acquire him.
Bridges is averaging 21.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on 45.8/36.1/87.1 shooting splits with the Hornets this season.