Hornets exercise options on Washington, Bridges

Published Dec. 23, 2020 1:21 p.m. ET

Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Hornets have exercised the third-year contract option on forward PJ Washington and the fourth-year option on forward Miles Bridges.

Neither move Wednesday comes as a surprise as both appear to figure into the team’s long-term plans.

Washington, a projected starter this season, enters his second NBA season after starting 57 games as a rookie. He averaged 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 30.3 minutes per game and shot 37.4% from beyond the 3-point arc. The 6-foot-7 forward earned All-Rookie second team honors in 2019-20.

Bridges is in his third NBA season. The 6-foot-6 Bridges has played in 145 games with 89 starts, and improved his scoring average to 13 points per game last season after averaging 7.5 as a rookie. Bridges, who is expected to come off the bench this season following the addition of Gordon Hayward, scored 20 points and added five rebounds and five assists during the 2020 Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star weekend in Chicago.

The Hornets open the season Wednesday night at Cleveland.

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