12/1/15: Motivated, Mature Avery Bradley Making the Leap for the Celtics?
Many questioned Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge for signing Avery Bradley to a four-year, $32 million contract extension in July of 2014. Not that it was a huge sum of money by NBA standards, but…
Avery Bradley?
To that point in his career, the 6'2" guard out of Texas had experienced Katy Perry-like ebbs and flows. The same player who emerged as a two-way threat after Ray Allen’s ankles turned to dust on the road to the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals underwent double-shoulder surgery the following offseason. He returned to find himself first choked out of the rotation by Jason Terry and Courtney Lee, then flailing in an attempt to pilot the offense in the absence of injured star Rajon Rondo.
And while he took a step forward as a scoring option (14.9 points per game) on a bad team in 2014, he kind of faded into the background on an unlikely 2015 playoff squad. Last year, Bradley attempted to carve out a niche by taking the highest number of three-pointers in his career (352), but connected at a tepid 35.2 percent clip, 34th out of 50 players with over 300 long-distance heaves last season.
At the start of the Celtics’ November 15 contest in Oklahoma City, Bradley, a starter the last three seasons, found himself coming off the bench. The motivation for Coach Brad Stevens was twofold: adding Isaiah Thomas’ scoring punch to a starting unit that desperately needed it, while allowing Bradley, recently healed from a hamstring injury, to pile up points and wreak defensive havoc on opposing reserves.
The ensuing two weeks resulted in the best basketball of the 25-year old’s career: a torrid 10-game stretch that has seen him average 19.4 points and 2.1 steals per contest. He is also confidently taking — and making — threes, 2.9 a night at north of 45 percent. Meanwhile, with Marcus Smart down for an extended period, Bradley has resurfaced in the starting five.
Last night against the Heat, Bradley tallied 25 points, nailing 3-of-6 from downtown, dishing out three assists and pilfering three steals. His shooting was clutch and his defensive contributions conspicuous, none more so than an exclamation point of a fourth quarter stuff on a feeble turnaround attempt by Dwyane Wade. Wade, who got going offensively with Bradley getting a rest earlier in the period, got bottled up, lost his cool and eventually the game as the Celtics prevailed 105–95 on the road.
He’s still going to do Avery Bradley things, like dribble the ball off his foot or get involved in the occasional inexplicable game of hot potato that results in the opposition getting a wide-open layup. And it’s unclear what Stevens will do with the backcourt rotation once Smart returns.
But Bradley today is the player we hoped he would be when he first emerged for the 2012 C’s: a defensive menace who can impact a game offensively when he isn’t trying to do too much. He’ll never be a first scoring option and may not even be a starter on the team going forward. But Bradley’s hot streak is difficult to dismiss as anything but a step in the right direction.
Looking back on Ainge’s investment of a 19th overall pick back in 2010 and a middle-of-the-road contract extension — not a bad deal.
