Avery Bradley = Gorilla Glue.

Every great team needs glue. Something to hold it together. Someone who can give energy on both ends of the floor, check an opposing team’s scorer. Every great team needs a GUY.

It’s a non-specific term that by itself is way too esoteric, undefinable and confusing. You question, “All NBA players are “guys” aren’t they?” My answer to you would be a resounding, “NO”.

All NBA players are in fact males, there’s no disputing that, although Britney Griner said she could give Demarcus Cousins a run for his money. But the definition of a GUY in this case is somebody who flies under the radar of the public eye, a player who can do everything on the court that creates opportunities for the franchise star to shine and an athlete that will dive for a loose ball, throw some elbows when they need to be thrown, and somebody to be the Alfred to the teams’ Batman and Robin.

In the ever evolving NBA, there will ALWAYS be a spot for a GUY. In this case, my team’s GUY is Avery Bradley.

At the beginning of the NBA season when this team was being put together, Avery Bradley was at the top of the “Glue Guy” list. Now that we’re more than a quarter of the way through the season, Bradley has become more than just glue for the Celtics, he’s been their best player. Now don’t’ get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for Isaiah Thomas’ playmaking ability, elite finishing around the hoop and free throw shooting, but when you break it down by usage rate, effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage, you’ll be hard pressed to find a guy more valuable to a team than Bradley to the Celtics.

So far this season Bradley is boasting a 22.6% usage rate and a 56.3% true shooting percentage. Those are a few of his advanced stats that popped out to my eye.

Let’s have a little fun.

I’m going to put out a few stats and you’re going to guess who is Player A and who is Player B. Obviously one of them is Avery Bradley, but you’ll have to tell me who the other is.

Player A:

PPG: 24.6

APG: 4.3

RPG: 6.6

Offensive Rating: 105.9

Defensive Rating: 103.3

REB%: 9.7

EFG%: 48.6

Usage Rate: 27.3

Salary: $17.5 million/year

Player B:

PPG: 17.9

APG: 2.4

RPG: 8.1

Offensive Rating: 108.0

Defensive Rating: 109.4

REB%: 11.2

EFG%: 54.8

Usage Rate: 22.6

Salary: $8.3 million/year

Who is Player B?

Avery Bradley

Who is Player A?

Let me give you a hint. He is deemed a franchise super star. He is a multiple time All-Star and a leader of his team. Player A is Jimmy Butler.

The way I look at it as a GM, if I already have a super star in Giannis and another player to be named next week (also a stud), then why would I pay double for a guy like Butler when I can pay half and get equally as much efficiency plus better defense?

Avery Bradley is more valuable than Jimmy Butler. Yeah. I said it.

So without further ado, welcome to the squad Avery, you’re the GUY.

Depth Chart:

Starting 5

1.

2. Avery Bradley

3. Giannis Antetokounmpo

4.

5.

Bench Mob

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Positional Requirements

PG: 0/2

SG: 1/2

SF: 1/3

PF: 0/3

C: 0/2

Salary Cap:

$11.2/$110 million

Stay tuned to see “Who’s Got Next”.