NEW YORK â Mikal Bridges is staying home. The 76ers selected the Villanova and Great Valley High School grad with the No. 10 pick in the NBA draft Thursday night at the Barclays Center.
The 6-foot-7, 210-pound swingman is a multi-dimensional defensive standout and a good three-point shooter (43.5 percent last season). He averaged 17.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 32.1 minutes during the Wildcatsâ run to the national championship.
Bridges, 21, can defend, is an efficient shooter, and seems an ideal fit for a team looking to spread the floor. The added bonus is that he doesnât need the ball to be effective.
Thatâs part of the reason he thinks heâll fit in well with Sixers standouts Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in coach Brett Brownâs system.
He noted how the Sixers like to play defense first.
âThatâs how I play,â said Bridges, who had a season of eligibility remaining at Villanova. âAnd also you have Ben and Joel, those two, and I feel like just a person like me can correlate them just when Ben goes in ball screens or transition.
âIâm that guy who you can find in the corner or thatâs going to cut to the basket, just move without the ball well for them, and the same for Embiid. Just create space for them.â
Heâs also very familiar with the organization.
Bridgesâ mother, Tyneeha Rivers, is a global vice president of human resources at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which Sixers owner Josh Harris co-owns. Her office, in fact, is in the complex in Camden where the Sixers practice and where Bridges worked out earlier this month.
The Sixers finished the regular season 52-30, the franchiseâs best record since it went 56-26 in 2000-01. The Sixers finished third in the Eastern Conference and concluded the regular season with 16 straight wins, setting a league record most consecutive victories to end a regular season. They made their first postseason appearance since 2012, losing in five games to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.