Miles Bridges on Suns acquisition: ‘This was probably the only team I wanted to get traded to’

Seven games into his tenure with the Phoenix Suns, forward Miles Bridges is beginning to settle into his new home.

Acquired by Phoenix in an offseason trade with the Charlotte Hornets, Bridges admitted he was initially caught off guard by the deal that split up him and point guard LaMelo Ball.

“I think everybody was surprised, because Charlotte hasn’t seen much success,” Bridges told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Friday. “I went to the play-in twice with them, but all the other seasons were not that good. So, for them to finally have success and then just trade away the two key pieces, it was kind of confusing to me.”

Despite the initial shock, Bridges bore no ill will toward his former franchise as it pivots toward its young core, including 2023 draft pick Brandon Miller and second-year guard Kon Knueppel.

“I think they’re doing a good job putting their game into Brandon Miller’s hands and Kon Knueppel,” Bridges said. “Those are two elite players, and I wish nothing but the best for them.”

While the exit from Charlotte came unexpectedly, the destination was exactly what the 28-year-old forward had envisioned. In fact, Bridges revealed Phoenix was at the very top of his personal wishlist.

“This was probably the only team I wanted to get traded to,” Bridges said. “I love the culture here. I love the great basketball that’s being played here. Last year, people didn’t have any expectations for the Suns, and those guys proved to everybody that you could win games just based on physicality and wanting it more.”

That hard-nosed mentality struck a chord with Bridges, whose game relies heavily on effort, toughness and athleticism on both ends of the floor.

“That’s the type of way that I play,” he said. “So for me to come here, and I know the owner, of course, Mat (Ishbia). He’s a great guy. Know the GM, know the coach. So everything just aligned for me, and then we have a great group of guys.”

While the Suns targeted Bridges for years, building chemistry with him and other new pieces has taken time.

After opening the season with a few stumbles, Bridges believes the group is quickly finding its footing.

“We’re a new team. We’re seven games in,” Bridges said. “It takes a little while, but I think it’s all coming together for us pretty fast now. We had our wake-up call with the first game and then lost some games that we thought we should have won. So I think we know what we’re doing now. I think we’re figuring out our identity, and we’re going to have good basketball to play ahead.”

A key focus for head coach Jordan Ott and the coaching staff early in the season has been tightening up the defensive side of the floor. While Phoenix has shown promise in half-court sets, securing defensive rebounds remains the primary area of emphasis.

“Really just finishing possessions,” Bridges said of the team’s defensive focal point. “We’ve been good in the half court. The thing that gets us is teams getting so many offensive rebounds and then kick-outs for 3s. That has really been hurting us.”

The return of Oso Ighodaro from injury has provided a much-needed boost down low, but Bridges emphasized that board crashers across the lineup must step up.

“Having Oso back from injury really helped us on the defensive end,” Bridges said. “But we got to be more assertive on the defensive glass so teams don’t have second chances to get shots up against us.”

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