The Detroit Pistons should stay away from Miles Bridges

The Detroit Pistons are mired in a losing streak, shorthanded and could certainly use some additional talent as they try not to slip further into the abyss this season.

Troy Weaver has been known to look for high-ceiling guys who may need a new environment to succeed and has taken chances on players like Josh Jackson and Marvin Bagley III with mixed results.

That’s why it wasn’t completely surprising when the Detroit Pistons were mentioned among teams that are “monitoring” the Miles Bridges situation according to Shams Charania:

Bridges was briefly attached to the Pistons in rumors last offseason, but since was arrested for felony assault and recently pled no contest to felony domestic violence. He was a guy who looked like he was going to get a max deal from someone before his legal troubles.

At one point he was a player who many thought would look good in a Pistons’ uniform, but after all of this they should stay far away for several reasons.

Detroit Pistons: Miles Bridges is a PR nightmare

I’m not going to get into the whole case here, but if you saw the pictures of what Miles Bridges allegedly did to his girlfriend in front of their children, I can say confidently that he is not a guy I want on my team at this point and time.

I believe in second chances, and I am no person’s moral judge, but these chances need to be earned and he hasn’t done that yet. Maybe he will at some point, as he was lucky to stay out of prison and instead got three years of probation and mandatory counseling.

But it would be hypocritical for a team that has preached “character” and “drafting the person not the player” to then bring on Bridges fresh after becoming a felon. Is this the type of attention you want your young roster to have to endure all season?

It would be a huge distraction and not worth all of the negative PR that comes with Miles Bridges at this stage.

Miles Bridges is a restricted free agent

The Hornets made a qualifying offer to Bridges, so they still retain the right to match any offer a team makes for him.

Bridges is just 24, so there is time for him to redeem himself, and Charlotte may still consider keeping him. According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, Charlotte may still consider Bridges a “core piece” which means they are likely to match any offer.

I don’t think the Detroit Pistons need to be getting into bidding wars for Miles Bridges at this stage of their rebuild.

Miles Bridges is going to get suspended

I’m sure that Charlotte or some other team will eventually give Miles Bridges a job, but there is no guarantee that he’ll play even after that.

The NBA is still reportedly investigating the issue and will likely hand down their own punishment even after Bridges was dealt with by the courts. The league is likely to fine and suspend Bridges if they don’t disqualify him outright, so whatever team signs him could be using a roster spot on a guy who won’t even be able to play.

We’ll get more indication on what the league is going to do as he gets closer to signing with someone, but it’s likely to be harsh given the severity of what he pled to.

The Detroit Pistons should want no part of a bidding war for a guy who will likely face a suspension, all while sending a very ugly message to their team, employees and staff, many of which happen to be women.

Let some other team host the protests outside of their arena and give a roster spot to a guy who will probably be suspended. There is plenty of talent in the NBA other than Miles Bridges.