Jalen Bridges and The Secret Sauce
Jalen Bridges and The Secret Sauce
A full scouting report of Jalen Bridges, his 3-and-D skill set, and how he fits in the NBA's ever-evolving landscape.
The Revolution
The 2013 NBA Finals were a thing of beauty. On one hand, the Miami Heat’s Big Three of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade were looking to win their second straight championship. Conversely, the San Antonio Spurs were a veteran group comprised of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. They’d been counted out and written off as “too old” in past years. Now, they’d added a new wrinkle in the form of 21-year-old Kawhi Leonard. It was an incredible series that went to a Game Seven. In the end, the Miami Heat would get the job done. One year later, the Spurs would get their revenge.
It was easy to get wrapped up in the star-studded spectacle of the 2013 Finals. But beneath the surface, a crucial team-building development was unfolding. Teams began to increasingly value the “3-and-D” role player as a complement to their stars. Shane Battier’s gritty hustle plays and long arms mucked things up for the San Antonio offense. On the other end of the floor, he was a safety valve for the Heat’s stars, draining 12 of his 27 three-point attempts. For the Spurs, Danny Green’s otherworldly transition efforts and defensive intensity helped slow the Heat’s role. Like Battier, he also provided valuable spacing, knocking down 27 of his 49 triples.
Late-career Battier and early-career Gerald Green are emblematic of the early stage of the 3-and-D role player revolution. In time, there would be a shift in terms of how those players will utilize. Still, the “3-and-D” label is often thrown (rather liberally) at a myriad of players a simple way of identifying low-maintenance but helpful offensive players who can hold their own defensively. Today’s “3-and-D” looks different than that of 2013’s, and we’ll get to that later. One 2024 NBA Draft prospect who’s getting the “3-and-D” label is Baylor’s Jalen Bridges. We’ll keep it simple to start, but then, we’ll go deeper into what modern wings look like, and whether or not Jalen Bridges has the goods to meet that threshold.
The Three
Jalen Bridges took huge strides as a three-point shooter this past season. Coming into the year, he’d made 34.4% of his triples on 3.1 attempts per game. Still, a hot stretch from deep to close his junior campaign (41.7% in his last 15 games) and steady free throw shooting gave room for encouragement. This year, Bridges showed that his previous late-season push wasn’t a fluke. He took a career-high 5.1 threes per game (9.5 per 100 possessions) and drilled 41.2% of them. When he spots up, he’s got his hands ready and knees bent, enabling him to go right into his shooting motion without much of a load up. His mechanics were consistent across his attempts. Bridges, a 50% three-point shooter on unguarded catch-and-shoots, cannot be left unattended. The repeatability of his motion and the quick nature of his release should help him get his shot off at the NBA level.
But in the NBA, good shooters don’t often get clean, easy looks. They have to work for them. Bridges is ready to do that, too. He’s more than comfortable launching from behind the NBA line when given space. He’s also a more dynamic shooter than he seems to get credit for being. Bridges does a great job of running the floor and filling the corner in transition, where he can hit the breaks and move seamlessly into his shot. He made 10 of his 24 transition triples this past season. While he didn’t get to run off screens much, he looked great when he did, knocking down 12 of his 23 attempts on those types of threes. His quickness helps him separate from defenders. He demonstrates positional understanding, tucking himself behind screens in a way that maximizes the distance between himself and the defender. Once he catches the ball, his fluidity is on full display. He gathers his feet and goes into his shooting motion in one single movement. Bridges isn’t just a guy who shot a good percentage on threes in college, he’s a guy who is capable of hitting the shots that NBA shooters need to hit.
The D
Jalen Bridges posted both a STL% and BLK% of 2.0 this past season. Funnily enough, 2.0% is generally the rate considered to be solid at each mark for a wing prospect. On the ball, Bridges has the hips and foot speed to keep smaller opponents in front of him. He’s an agile lateral mover. He guards ball screens well, with the ability to get skinny and knife around a pick to contain the ball. When he does get beat, he always gives an extra effort and works to recover. He pops off the floor quickly to contest shots.
His best work comes off the ball, though. His speed allows him to cover large swaths of ground in a hurry. He knows where to be rotationally, and he does an excellent job of playing in gaps. He’s keenly aware of his surroundings and eager to make help plays at the rim, but he’s not overeager, either. He does a great job of using his length to get to balls in passing lanes, whether it’s for a steal or a disruptive deflection that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.
Add in a 6’10” wingspan and a 220-pound frame, and there’s a lot to like. All of this bodes well for Bridges heading into the NBA. He’s going to be able to cover multiple positions thanks to his length and quickness, but his ability to play within a team concept is what’s most important for him as an older prospect. He won’t be behind the curve mentally, and the fact that he’s often a step ahead of opposing offenses is encouraging. If nothing else, he won’t be in over his head. At best, he can present challenges in ball screen coverages while acting as a potent off-ball playmaker.
Evolution
Everything evolves, and basketball is no different. It’s the job of coaches to continually find new ways to maximize advantages and exploit the flaws of opponents. Have you ever met a high-level basketball coach? These guys are sickos. They’re intelligent, exceptionally competitive, and have unbelievable work ethics. If you present them with a basketball problem, they will do everything they can to find a basketball solution. And when they’re not doing that, they’re going to try and create basketball problems that their peers will have to solve.
Both defenses and offensive have grown more complex since 2013. During the aforementioned Heat/Spurs Finals, Shane Battier went 12-for-27 from beyond the arc. Do you know what he shot on his two-point field goal attempts? 0-for-0. Do you know how many assists Danny Green had in his 248 minutes of play that series? Five, good for an assist rate of 3.7%. Even Michael Porter Jr., who is often derided for how little he passes, posted a higher assist-per-minute tally in the Finals last year.
It’s hard to imagine Battier’s shot diet or Green’s low assist tallies in a modern NBA Finals. The reason why is that defenses have gotten much better at keying in on shooters and forcing them to make difficult choices. Even a true-blue specialist like Isaiah Joe has to take two-pointers sometimes because teams are going to work their absolute hardest to run him off the line. Watching Battier’s attempts from that series back, he did draw hard closeouts. But defenses are better at preventing the types of openings he was getting upon receiving a pass in the first place. It felt like if you’d plopped that scheme against a more modernized defense, he wouldn’t have been able to live on the perimeter. And if he did, he would’ve had to do more work to get open in the first place. Additionally, a low assist output like Danny Green’s is fairly tough to picture today. Because shooters are often forced to go inside, it’s become imperative for them to have an added layer of dimensionality as playmakers. If Green came along today, he’d likely develop a more polished handle and some counterattacks, and he’d focus more on seeing the floor. Necessity has forced the 3-and-D wing and the dribble-pass-shoot wing to blend into a new species. The NBA’s skill bar continues to be pushed higher with every passing season.
So, Jalen Bridges. We know you can shoot threes. We know you can defend. But what else?
The Usage Question
This is where things look dicey for Jalen Bridges. Historically, lower-usage seniors don’t get as much love from NBA front offices. Teams would rather swing on a player they’ve seen be a star and trust them to simplify their game. Hoping a great complementary college player can become a great complementary NBA player is a tricky proposition. It’s a reasonable philosophy, and it applies even more strictly to upperclassmen. Unfortunately for Bridges, it’s not one that’s favorable to his stock. He posted a usage rate of 17.5% this past season. Below, I’ve included a chart of seniors drafted in the last ten years who had a usage rate at or below 20%.
It’s not a group of complete chumps. Did a good number of them wash out? Yes. But Pat Connaughton was a role player on a title team. Andrew Nembhard, Terance Mann, and Matisse Thybulle have all been everyday players for playoff squads. Cody Martin earned a second contract with his drafting team. Jake Layman played six years in the league. Jericho Sims might not get a ton of run, but he’s hung around if nothing else. Given what the success rate tends to be in the 20-60 range anyway, the hit rate for this group isn’t terrible. It might not be ideal, but picking after the 40th pick isn’t ideal. You’ve got to bet on something at some point, and betting on this type of player isn’t a lost cause.
But again—if Jalen Bridges is a 3-and-D guy, and wing players are being tasked with more, and he’s coming in as a low-usage guy…does that mean it’s time to bail on him? I say no. Because I think that while Bridges’s usage was lower in Baylor’s guard-heavy system, he may actually be up to the tasks required of modern wings. He didn’t get to show it all the time, but deep diving into the film, he’s got more sauce to him than you might think. He’s got Secret Sauce.
The Secret Sauce
Bridges isn’t going to trip over his own shoes when he has to create his own shot. Remember the shooting dynamism we discussed earlier? He’s got an impressive off-the-dribble bag from behind the arc, too.
Bridges has the “pump fake, sidestep, three” shot to avoid potent closeouts and still get himself a clean, efficient look. If defenders sag going under a ball screen, he has the confidence to pull up and the accuracy to convert. Even in a pure one-on-one matchup, he has enough of a handle paired with slick footwork which allows him to generate space from his defender. His vertical pop, strength, and balanced base allow his shots to actually get where they need to go, too. His combination of skill, will, and coordination make him a dangerous three-point shooter off the dribble and contributed to him hitting 14 of his 32 pull-up threes this past season.
Because of his gravity off the catch and pull-up prowess from long range, defenders have to either play tight on Bridges or close out at him with ferocity. When they do, he’s able to make them pay. Bridges has a quick first step and takes long strides to the basket. Add in his explosive one-footed leaping ability, and Bridges can finish above the rim in the halfcourt. Still, Bridges isn’t contact averse and has the touch to finish even when bumped mid-air. His 56.9% at the rim in the halfcourt is a rock-solid mark for someone who will predominantly play the three position.
Now, the icing on the cake—Bridges is a much better passer than his 8.2 AST% would indicate. At first, that number seems scary, but bear with me. Again, he was a lower-usage player. Additionally, Bridges takes good care of the ball. He posted 1.4 APG to only 1.0 TOV this past year. Plus, he’s able to make a nice variety of passes.
In the first clip, Bridges is operating out of a ball screen. He anticipates the dig coming from the strong side corner, properly shields the ball, and then punishes the defender for helping. In the second, he attacks the defender against their own momentum to get into the heart of the defense. As the defense collapses in on him, he stops and hits a wide-open teammate through the gap in UCF’s 2-3 zone defense. In clip three, Bridges immediately identifies the window for a pocket pass as he comes off a ball screen, leading to an easy bucket for his big man. In the last clip, he sees that Yves Missi is behind the defender after a screen and lobs it to him for an alley-oop.
Bridges is comfortable putting it on the deck and he’s able to make the right pass. Even better, he reacts quickly and can legitimately read the defense, as evidence by some of these more “go-with-the-flow” style passes that couldn’t be pre-meditated. He won’t give Nikola Jokic a run for his money, but he has the skill to identify what a defense is doing and then capitalize on it. That’s a must when it comes to playing in a modern playoff series.
Conclusion
Jalen Bridges fits the modern wing mold. While his usage rate at Baylor may set off some alarm bells, I wouldn’t be so quick to panic. He has a modern skill set that he displayed at various points throughout the season when he was given the opportunity. He’s a knockdown shooter, toolsy defender, good athlete, and a player who can react to what’s happening in front of him. Those are the players that NBA teams want on their rosters. At worst, Bridges deserves to hear his name called in the second round on draft night. But if he has a strong pre-draft process and shows out during the combine, don’t be surprised if he makes a push toward the Top 30. Either way, don’t force Bridges entirely into the 3-And-D box. Don’t get me wrong, he can do those things, and that will be his bread and butter. But he’s got some secret sauce, too, and that’s what could transform him into a long-term NBA player.
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