Mikal Bridges drew praise across the NBA following a midseason trade to the Brooklyn Nets last season. The 27-year-old emerged as one of the league's most efficient scorers, averaging 27.7 points per game on 47/38/89 shooting splits. He did so while maintaining his high-level defense, frequently drawing opposing teams' top scorers.

That two-way consistency landed Bridges No. 31 on CBS Sports' Top 100 NBA players ahead of the 2023-24 season.

The ranking adds to widespread expectations that the Nets forward could earn his first All-Star appearance during his first full season as Brooklyn's top option. CBS Sports ranks Bridges ahead of five All-Stars from last season: Pascal Siakam, Domantas Sabonis, Lauri Markkanen, DeMar DeRozan and Julius Randle. The list also places him ahead of several household names in James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Brandon Ingram, Karl-Anthony Towns and Bradley Beal.

Bridges’ jump from last year's list positions him alongside other rising stars such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, De’Aron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and Jalen Brunson.

Nets: Mikal Bridges heading into 2023-24 season

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Bridges showed considerable growth last season in several areas, inspiring hope he has a higher ceiling as an on-ball creator. He routinely scored 25 or more on nights when he struggled from the field, a product of his growing ability to draw fouls. Bridges' 6.9 free throws per game with the Nets ranked 14th in the NBA. He shot 89.4 percent from the line, the league's second-best percentage among 33 players to average 5.5 or more attempts during that span.

In addition to his continued high-level spot-up shooting, Bridges became increasingly comfortable taking threes off the dribble, a skill that bodes well for his ceiling as a high-usage scorer. Over his last two seasons with Phoenix, Bridges shot 19-of-59 (32.2 percent) on pull-up threes, attempting just 0.4 per game. He more than quadrupled that volume with Brooklyn, shooting 37.5 percent on 1.8 attempts per game.

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Bridges must show considerable growth as a playmaker with added on-ball responsibilities. He averaged just 2.7 assists per game with the Nets, placing the bulk of the playmaking responsibilities on Spencer Dinwiddie. However, his growing ability to draw fouls and pull-up from deep, along with his mid-range brilliance and length finishing at the rim, inspire confidence he can carry a considerable load as a lead-scoring option.

Bridges is owed $23.3 million annually for the next three seasons, a contract that projects to be among the best value deals in the league. The second-year Net joins a Brooklyn core predominately in the same age range this season, with Cam Johnson (27), Nic Claxton (24), Ben Simmons (27) and Spencer Dinwiddie (30) headlining the roster.