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Boston Celtics Season In Review: Avery Bradley

By ggrammer

Apr 12, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) reacts after his basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 12, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) reacts after his basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
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Who was the best player on the Boston Celtics this season?

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Basketball writers love to talk about who leads a team in terms of “options.” Is Kevin Love the third option on the Cavaliers, or is Kyrie Irving? Do the Atlanta Hawks have a real first option who can put the team on his back and lead them to a title?

But if you look back at this past season for the Boston Celtics and ask who the first option was over this entire season, it is hard to say.

Isaiah Thomas was terrific at the end, but he only played 21 games wearing Celtics green. Jeff Green and Rajon Rondo were not on the team when Boston made its playoff push. So if it is not those three, then who is it?

It is probably Avery Bradley. Bradley played the most minutes on the Celtics this season. He played 77 games, the most in his five NBA seasons. In the third game of the 2014-15 season, Bradley scored a career-high 32 points against the Dallas Mavericks.

Aside from scoring outbursts like that from time to time, Bradley struggled to be an offensive option. His points, field goal percentage, PER, and true shooting percentage all dipped this season. Over the final two months of the NBA season, Bradley scored 13.5 points on 13.4 shots. He would then go on to score 49 points on 50 shots in the playoffs against Cleveland.

No player should shoot more attempts than score points, and offensive efficiency has been a constant concern for Bradley.  A big part is that he draws very few free throw attempts. Bradley only shot 1.3 free throws per game despite his heavy minutes. Bradley knew that this was a problem at the beginning of this season, and it is unfortunate that it was not addressed.

Bradley’s passing did improve over this season, but it went from “terrible” to “bad.” He averaged just 1.8 assists to 1.4 turnovers this season. This does represent an improvement because Bradley did not try to force things as he did all too often last year. Instead, he let Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart take over passing responsibilities.

But Bradley will never be known as a scoring or a pass-first point guard. He is known for his ability as a perimeter defender. Bradley himself has declared that, “I know I’m the best on-ball defender in the NBA,” and he is a possible candidate for the All-Defensive Team this year.

Bradley may overestimate his own defensive talents, but he is one of the better defenders in the league. However, there is a school of thought which argues that point guard defense is overrated. The lack of hand-checking in the modern NBA as well as the rise in more athletic point guards means that it is difficult for any point guard to stop another one on one.

The proper course for a defensive point guard is to just shunt his opponent to the big man who guards the paint.

But as the Celtics do not have a strong defensive big man, this strategy will not work for them. So Bradley is stuck trying to defend opposing guards largely by himself. Bradley is good enough to make it work, but not always.

Everything that has been said above may make it seem as if Bradley is not a very good player or that he is not worth the four-year, $32 million contract he signed this past summer. That is incorrect.

Danny Ainge and other NBA general managers value Bradley a great deal. Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported that multiple teams made offers for Bradley around the trade deadline. Ainge refused all offers.

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Rumored draft target could 'pave way' for scoring G.O.A.T. to join Boston Celtics
Rumored draft target could 'pave way' for scoring G.O.A.T. to join Boston Celtics /

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    • The best way to use Bradley is to play him alongside another scoring guard who can make up for Bradley’s lack of offensive skills – like Isaiah Thomas. It was the Thomas-Bradley combination which propelled the Celtics to the playoffs late in the season.

    They scored enough points and played enough defense for Boston to finish the season with that impressive 20-11 record after the All-Star break.

    Bradley will still be 24 at the start of next season and entering his sixth season in the NBA. That is not old in the NBA, but this is around the time when a player starts to plateau.

    If Bradley wants to take another step forward and develop into one of the elite guards in the NBA, he will need to improve both his playmaking and finishing ability. Those things can be difficult to improve for a NBA player as opposed to shooting or defensive effort.

    Celtics fans already know what kind of player Avery Bradley is – a tough, hard-nosed fighter who never gives up. Now, it will be up to Bradley this offseason to see if he can become something more.

    Next: NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of All Time

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