Summary
Bridges was in line for a big contract in 2022 before news about a domestic violence incident broke shortly before free agency. He plead no contest for a felony domestic violence charge in the fall and went the whole '22-'23 season unsigned. He signed the Qualifying Offer in 2023, served a 10-game suspension to start the '23-'24 season, and will hit unrestricted free agency in 2024.

Bridges took a leap offensively in '20-'21, particularly with his outside shooting. After shooting 34% from three during his first two seasons in the league, he shot 40% from three in '20-'21. Going into the '21-'22 season, the question was if he could sustain that level of outside shooting. After a hot start to that season, Bridges cooled down as the season went on and finished at 34% from three, and he hit 36% in '23-'24, which is an average number, but not great.

Bridges took legitimate strides as a scorer in '21-'22, and just as an offensive player overall. He has the ability to create his own shot off the dribble, and his playmaking for others improved. He has real moves, and his overall feel for the game continued to develop. At his peak Bridges has appeared to be a legitimate secondary playmaker. 

Bridges' athleticism makes him a real threat in transition, and he is a nice target for LaMelo Ball on the break. He's athletic enough to finish over defenders, but also strong enough to finish through them if necessary. He also improved his free-throw shooting to 87% in '20-'21, and while that dipped down to 80% in '21-'22, it still makes him even more of a threat to attack the rim because defenses can't rely on fouling him to prevent points. He hit 83% from the line in '23-'24.

On defense, Bridges also made real strides. He has the size and athleticism to guard multiple positions, and the Hornets often gave him the assignment of the opponent's best perimeter player. He was even tasked with guarding elite lead guards like Damian Lillard, and fared well in those situations. His steal rate has historically been below average, but that has also improved in over his last couple seasons.

Teams will certainly have questions for Bridges going forward and if they can trust him with a big contract, but considering how well he played in '21-'22, and that he has looked somewhat close to that in '23-'24, he should get a significant deal.
 
Cap Considerations
Bridges will be an unrestricted free agent with a $15.1 million cap hold and full Bird Rights, meaning the Hornets will have no restrictions on re-signing him. If a player has a smaller cap hold than his starting salary, his team can use cap space to sign-free agents before using Bird Rights to re-sign its own free agents, so the Hornets will be able to take advantage of Bridges' somewhat low cap hold if he is re-signed for more than his cap hold. 

If Bridges is brought back by the Hornets on a multi-year contract they could benefit from frontloading his contract, as it could give them additional flexibility in the future.

For other teams, if Bridges demands a starting salary of more than the full $12.9 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, only teams with cap space will be able to sign him, unless a sign-and-trade is worked out. It's possible that he could be signed for the full MLE or slightly less.