Miles Bridges is back in the news for reasons that have nothing to do with basketball.
According to TMZ, Bridges and his former girlfriend, Mychelle Johnson, are once again locked in a legal dispute. Johnson is facing assault and battery charges tied to a custody exchange earlier this year, and she has described those charges as “false” and “frivolous” while accusing Bridges of trying to run her over with a golf cart during the same incident.
This latest round of conflict comes after Bridges previously secured a temporary restraining order against Johnson. In that case, he claimed she cyberstalked him and tried to damage his vehicle outside one of his games. Johnson denied those allegations.
The off-court situation adds another chapter to a stretch that already included a 10-game NBA suspension in 2023-24. That punishment followed an earlier domestic violence case that kept Bridges out for the entire 2022-23 season. The Suns acquired Bridges in a trade with the Hornets.
In Detroit, the Pistons and restricted free agent Jalen Duren still do not have a deal, and the talks appear to be stuck. Hunter Patterson of The Athletic reported that the team has shown little interest in pursuing a sign-and-trade, which leaves both sides with limited paths forward as negotiations continue.
Patterson also pointed out why a resolution would make sense for both sides. Duren’s age, production and the Pistons’ thin set of alternatives at center all make an agreement appealing, even if the market isn’t giving Detroit many easy options.
Orlando is dealing with a setback of its own. Magic rookie Izaiyah Nelson will have surgery after fracturing his left ankle in a Summer League game on Sunday. The team said the second-round pick is expected to return to basketball activities in three to four months, which puts his status for training camp and the start of the regular season in doubt.
Nelson signed a two-way contract after being drafted out of South Florida, and he had already made a strong early impression inside the organization, according to Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. Summer League coach DJ Bakker praised the rookie’s edge, saying, “His competitiveness and his motor are off the charts,” and added, “When a player has that type of a makeup and that type of a DNA, you feel comfortable going into battle with them.”
Nelson was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year last season after transferring from Arkansas State to South Florida before entering the NBA Draft.
In Other News...
Suns Offseason Leaves One Huge Question Hanging Over Devin Booker
The Suns spent the offseason trying to steady a roster that has been reshaped around Devin Booker, re-signing Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and Mark Williams while bringing in Luke Kennard and swinging the trade for Miles Bridges. Phoenix also moved on from Grayson Allen and Royce ONeale, part of a wider reset that still leaves Booker as the focal point of everything the team wants to do on offense and in the half court.
What makes the picture more complicated is that the supporting cast around him is still very much in flux. Bridges arrives with off-court baggage that will keep attention on him for reasons the Suns would rather avoid, while the summer offered a glimpse of possible internal help from Khaman Maluach and Koa Peat. If either young player can grow into a real rotation piece, it would ease some pressure, but for now Phoenix is still waiting to see whether the offseason actually solved enough around its star. [Read more 🡒]
Two Young Suns Are Already Forcing An Uncomfortable Rotation Question
Rasheer Fleming and Koa Peat have spent Summer League making the kind of impression that can complicate a coachs depth chart before the real games even begin. Fleming has flashed the defensive presence and scoring upside that make him look more than like a developmental flier, while Peat has brought the kind of rebounding and relentless energy that tends to stick with decision-makers long after July ends.
For the Suns, the bigger question is not whether either young player has looked good in a summer setting, but how that translates once the rotation tightens and the competition changes. Fleming and Peat have both put themselves in the conversation for more regular-season minutes, and even if Summer League is an imperfect measuring stick, their play has at least created an uncomfortable kind of pressure on a roster that still has established names ahead of them. [Read more 🡒]
Suns May Have Made Their Smartest Aaron Gordon Decision Yet
Phoenix once spent time as a possible landing spot for Aaron Gordon, a fit that made sense for a team looking for a rugged forward who could defend, finish and fit alongside star talent. Instead, the Suns went another direction, adding Miles Bridges and then using the draft to bring in Koa Peat, a rookie whose early Summer League play has already started to turn heads because of how closely his game resembles the kind of versatile forward Phoenix once had in mind.
Peats encouraging start gives the Suns something more interesting than a simple fallback plan. With Dillon Brooks and Bridges helping the club stay competitive now, Phoenix also appears to be layering in younger talent for what comes next, and that is where the Peat storyline gets intriguing. If his early flashes keep building, the Suns may have found a version of the Gordon idea without having to pay the price a trade for the veteran would have demanded. [Read more 🡒]