NBA free agency: Are Miles Bridges and the Charlotte Hornets headed for a split?

When the imaginary free agency bell rang Sunday night, triggering the start of the NBA’s most anticipated portion of its yearly calendar, we learned quickly that Miles Bridges was potentially not a lock to return to Charlotte.

Despite having extra time to hash out parameters of a new pact, nothing substantive enough materialized for the Charlotte Hornets and Bridges to avoid spending these past few days on separate parallels. The language in the league’s new collective bargaining agreement offers teams a lifeline of sorts, allowing them to conduct business and reach contract agreements like Indiana solidified with Pascal Siakam and New York did by reeling OG Anunoby back in.

But the Hornets and Bridges’ representatives weren’t so fortunate.

So now the real work is underway: finding amicable partners to facilitate his exit.

Negotiations in the multi-billion dollar world of professional sports always come down to one thing: dollars and sense, and this situation with Bridges and the Hornets is no different. Make no mistake about it, especially with Bridges repeatedly indicating how much he preferred to remain with the organization that drafted him because they stuck by him throughout his domestic violence case.

Bridges technically holds the cards, but his hand isn’t good enough to play by itself and win a big cash payout as if it were a royal flush. It’s why word leaked out about Bridges’ desire to join the LA Clippers, a franchise that’s seen All-Star Paul George sign with the 76ers and already added two players in Josh Primo and Kevin Porter Jr., who were each let go by their previous teams for serious off-the-court incidents.

Reportedly, Bridges sees how Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is not averse to giving players second chances, and wouldn’t mind being a part of an environment that includes opening up the Clippers’ new home arena, the Intuit Dome. But there could be a couple of hurdles that must be cleared.

And getting a huge contract seems unlikely. For a variety of reasons.

“If the Clippers wanted to pay somebody,” one league source told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday, “they would have paid Paul George.”

Welcome to the virtual staredown between the Hornets and Bridges’ representatives that dates back to last summer, when Bridges surprised many by taking the one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer not long after the opening of free agency, figuring a hefty payday was in store this summer if things went in the right direction during the 2023-24 campaign.

Now, in a way, they need each other for this split to be beneficial to both.

Most teams currently don’t have the salary cap space to ink Bridges outright to a contract averaging $20 million or more per season, leaving him with very few options. One potential landing spot that had sincere interest months ago — Detroit, the team Bridges followed growing up in Michigan — has apparently had a change in philosophy with all its front office and coaching changes. And Philadelphia, despite the rumored rumblings weeks ago, never was in on Bridges.

Settling for a team’s $12.9 mid-level exception wouldn’t be a smart move either considering it’d be less than his projected market value, and there aren’t a lot of places lining up to grab Bridges. Without that, leverage is minimal.

For the Hornets, playing a game of chicken isn’t the wisest of moves because they’ve already seen how the first version of this movie ended and the sequel could get messy if they can’t agree on a deal that makes them mutually happy.

Asset-wise, allowing Bridges to walk wouldn’t benefit the Hornets at all. He was their most durable player and leading scorer. Watching him skate out of town without some compensation in return, akin to what happened in 2019 when they brokered a deal to acquire Terry Rozier for Kemba Walker, is basketball malpractice.

Putting it together leads to a logical conclusion.

“I think they end up signing and trading Bridges,” an executive with one team told The Observer on Wednesday.

So far, there’s been nothing to suggest otherwise and it’s why Bridges’ days with the Hornets appear to be dwindling.