wutang112878 said:
Full disclosure, I never wanted to give Avery the contract extension and I didn’t think it was a particularly useful one to give out.
Now, I just don’t see what value he is bringing to the team and here are my reasons why:
- We know exactly where he is going career wise, he is at the point in his NBA career where perhaps he isn’t at his ceiling but we know what his ceiling is. I see his ceiling as a useful bench player for a contender and I don’t see that as a useful commodity for the Celtics in the next few years. I think Bradley can be a very valuable 6th man on a very good team, but could start for someone like CLE and fit in very well. He's limited offensively, which makes him stick out more on a team that doesn't have a star or at least have others around him who can create offense (we could see some improvement here if he plays more with IT next season). If you put him in the right offense, he doesn't have to be the first or second option and has shown the ability to knock down an open 3, particularly from the corners, where he'd be spotting up in an offense likes CLE.
- He will be taking minutes away from young guards and we need to figure out what they are. I don’t think Smart, Rozier, Hunter and Young are going to be the 4 guards we will have on the roster when this team contends again. But I do think finding their respective ceilings and determining which we want to use as assets and which we want to retain is something we have to do before we contend again and I think Bradley slows this process down if he is playing over these guys. Young, Rozier and Hunter may not see many minutes next year whether AB is around or not. They're all young, and while there are hopes for each of them to be contributors, having them be ready for big minutes next year is highly optimistic, IMO. Also, I don't know if AB is necessarily blocking any of them if they show they're ready.
- The short term value of wins doesn’t matter that much for this team. If Bradley playing over Hunter makes this team 3 wins better right now, I don’t think that makes a significant difference for this franchise. Maybe it makes them the 6th seed instead of the 8th, or the 8th seed instead of being lottery bound, but I’ll sacrifice that to get a clearer picture on the ceilings of the guys I mentioned. Solid point, and making the playoffs last year and dropping the C's out of the lottery is another example of how this philosophy can hurt, but I think it's pretty clear that the C's want to create a culture of winning, rather than tanking. They think that will lead to a star player to come to Boston, and I guess we'll see if that works. But overall, I think everyone is with you here. If the C's aren't going to really contend, it makes sense to get these guys real game experience, if they're ready.
- We really lack any significant bigs. We have some interesting young guys but none of whom convince me that they deserve to be starters. Lets say we think there is a 20% chance Bradley could make himself a ‘clearly should start’ type of player, I’d gladly sacrifice that for a big with a 10% chance of being a ‘clearly should start’ type of player. I probably would too. There's got to be something in the works to balance out the roster. Still time for Danny to figure out which way he wants to go. I doubt we go into the season without adding at least one more big.
I was debating this with a friend and I mentioned how I was never on board with his contract and he countered that in the context of the new NBA with the new TV money his contract really isn’t that bad. My counter point was that if that’s the case, and because of all my bullet points then its in the Celtics best interest to trade him.
I’d like to hear the other side of the coin on this one.
For me, he's a solid player in a tough situation. He can't be counted on to create his own offense, and with the guys he has around him, there aren't many who can help him get his shots. In that respect, I agree that he would probably be better off being moved if Danny can bring back real value. As your friend mentioned, his contract is an asset and will continue to look better as the cap goes up. I think he would have a lot of trade value, particularly to a team like CLE as I mentioned above, or for any number of teams who have guys who can create their own offense allowing AB to be more of a 3 & D player, spotting up in the corners. OKC, GS, HOU also come to mind. But matching up with one of those teams is the tricky part.
CLE doesn't have much outside of B. Haywood's non-guaranteed contract or Varejao's broken body and can't trade a 1st until 2018.
OKC would they move Steven Adams? Adams+Novak+PJ3+Augustin for AB+Sully? Probably not.
GS Could get creative if C's wanted to take back David Lee, but GS can't trade their 1st until '19 and won't want to give up any valuable players. Lee + '19 1st for AB + Wallace? Edit- Looks like Danny decided to take AB out of this deal, that jerk.
HOU Doubt Danny wants to take back Ariza to make a deal work, so it would need a 3rd team that would want him. Terrence Jones would be a target for me, but again not likely a match.
I'm sure there are others that would be interested, as well, particularly because of his contract. But I don't think he has to be moved just to clear minutes for the young guys. If they're ready, Stevens will find them minutes. He should only be moved if Danny gets real value for him, like a Steven Adams or (pipedream) DeMarcus Cousins.
