The Charlotte Hornets have already begun their plans for the NBA trade deadline, sending Terry Rozier to the Miami Heat earlier this week. Now, all the attention for this franchise is cast on Miles Bridges, who is being pursued by several teams ahead of the trade deadline. Currently in the final year of his contract and set to hit free agency in the offseason, it does appear as if the Hornets are open to dealing Bridges.

While teams such as the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and Detroit Pistons have been named as possible suitors for the former first-round pick, it doesn't appear as if Bridges is letting any of the trade rumors bother him.

“It doesn’t really bother me,” Bridges said on Friday, via Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “I don’t play attention to what people are saying. I’ve been criticized for the last year and a half now, so trade talk is the least of my worries. So, I just go out there and try to play my best every game, bring it all out there on the floor and that’s all I worry about.”

This season, Bridges has played in a total of 31 games, averaging 20.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Next to star guard LaMelo Ball, Bridges has been the Hornets' second-best offensive weapon this season.

As far as what the future holds for the 25-year-old, Bridges made it clear that he would like to stay in Charlotte.

“Like I said before, the Hornets have been behind me and I want to stay here,” Bridges told Boone. “I want to be here and that’s never going to change. So, as much talk as people hear that’s going around, just know that I want to stay with the Hornets.”

Miles Bridges' legal troubles

Bridges found himself in the news all of last season for all of the wrong reasons. Coming off of his best season in the league and set to see at least eight figures on a new contract from the Hornets, Bridges was caught up in a disturbing domestic violence case. The Hornets forward pleaded no contest to felony domestic violence charges after being arrested in 2022 and being accused of beating the mother of his two children in front of them.

As part of his plea deal, Bridges will be on probation for three years, but he has not and will not serve any jail time. He was suspended 30 games by the NBA and was forced to miss the first 10 games of the 2023-24 season, as the NBA determined that Bridges sitting out all of the 2022-23 season would count for 20 games of this suspension.

An arrest warrant was issued for Bridges in October of this past year for misdemeanor child abuse and injury to personal property after he allegedly violated a protective order during a custody exchange and damaged his ex-girlfriend’s car. His court date was pushed from November to mid-February.

Recently, Bridges was denied access into Canada during the team's trip to face the Toronto Raptors due to Canadian law stating that anyone with a criminal record may be excluded and denied entry into the country because of heightened enforcement. The Hornets played this game on December 18 without him.

If a team is to trade for Bridges ahead of this season's trade deadline, they will be getting a productive player who can undeniably help them in their playoff quest. However, the drama and negative media attention that surround Bridges off the court certainly make an impact as well.