Miles Bridges Is Shooting 20% From Deep — and the Suns Gave Up a First for Him
Bridges sits at -17.0 net rating through three games, second-worst on Phoenix. The leash is already short on a player tied to a trade that cost two rotation guards and an unprotected first.
20% from three and a -17.0 net rating — nothing here you can trust yet.
- Bridges: -17.0 net rating, 2nd-worst on Suns
- Shooting 20% on 6.7 three-point attempts/game
- Grabbing just 6.3 rebounds per game early
- Suns dealt O'Neale, Allen + unprotected 1st for him
- No Suns starter is shooting above 33% from deep
Three games into the season, Miles Bridges owns a -17.0 net rating — the second-worst mark on the Phoenix Suns, trailing only Devin Booker at -17.7. That's not the number Phoenix had in mind when it shipped out Royce O'Neale, Grayson Allen and an unprotected first-round pick to bring the 6-foot-8 forward to the desert.
The offense has been ugly across the board — no Suns starter is shooting above 33% from three — but Bridges is the biggest outlier. He's launching 6.7 triples a night, second-most on the roster, and connecting on just 20% of them. A chunk of those are late-clock heaves, which only makes the percentage look worse.
What Went Wrong
The vision for Bridges was essentially a supersized Jordan Goodwin: elite motor, plus defense, strong rebounding, and enough shooting to punish teams that leave him open. So far, almost none of that has shown up. The defense has been a problem, the rebounding sits at a fine-but-not-enough 6.3 per game, and the open-three gravy train hasn't left the station.
It hasn't helped that injuries to Oso Ighodaro and Mark Williams have forced Bridges into small-ball center minutes. That's a brutal ask for a player still finding his footing, and it hasn't gone well for anyone involved.
There are mitigating factors worth noting. Bridges is one of three new rotation pieces in Phoenix, he missed a big chunk of the preseason with an ankle sprain, and three games is a tiny sample. A week of hitting shots and bringing effort on defense would flip this narrative fast. He's been a better player than this — the track record says so.
The Stakes
The patience, though, is already thin. When you trade two useful guards and an unprotected first for a player, the margin for a slow start shrinks. There's also the extension angle: Bridges is in a prove-it season on a new team, so there's zero excuse for anything less than full effort every night.
The non-negotiable is energy. Phoenix needs Bridges to be the spark plug of the starting unit — the guy creating extra possessions and setting a physical tone. If he does that, the Suns can paper over the rest of their flaws. If he and the team haven't turned it around by December, this already-wobbly season gets a lot messier in a hurry.
The Fantasy Fallout
For fantasy managers, Bridges is a clear SIT until the shooting stabilizes. A 20% clip from deep torpedoes his efficiency, and a defensive line that isn't generating steals and blocks leaves him leaning entirely on scoring he isn't producing. There's upside baked in if the threes start falling, but you don't need to eat three weeks of this to find out.
The ripple effects are worth tracking. Jordan Goodwin (our rank #153, averaging 19.4 fantasy points per game across three games this 2026-27 season) remains the minutes-dependent flier whose role Bridges was supposed to replicate — if Phoenix sours on Bridges, Goodwin could see more run. Devin Booker (our rank #22, 37.1 fantasy points per game over three games in 2026-27) is still the lone must-start Sun despite the team's -17.7 net rating with him on the floor.
On the other side of the ledger, Grayson Allen landed in Charlotte and has quietly been fine — 16.8 points, 23.2 fantasy points per game across four games this 2026-27 season (our rank #79). He's a reasonable streaming add in deeper formats while Bridges sorts himself out. The verdict on Bridges is simple: park him on your bench, watch the next week, and only re-engage if the effort and the threes both show up at once.
