Boston Celtics: Ranking Team’s Most Valuable Trade Assets
By Jon Shames
4.) SG Avery Bradley
Avery Bradley has a ton of talent. Unfortunately, he seldom channels all of it on a given night.
Bradley is a frustrating player to watch, because he has the tools to be an elite shooting guard. He is undersized to play the 2-guard, standing at a generous 6-foot-2, but he compensates with other-worldly athleticism.
But watching him some nights, you wouldn’t know it.
He put a lot of work into his jumper over the summer, and thus, became a more confident shooter. But with that, he started to deviate from the other elements of his game — cutting, slashing with the ball, and passing in the pick-and-roll — and subsequently transformed into the one-dimensional player that Celtics fans see most nights.
When Bradley attacks the rim with confidence, which he has been doing more as of late, he becomes a really tough cover. He makes up for his lack of offensive creativity with a great first step and excellent body control.
When he’s there mentally, and unleashes his full arsenal, he’s hard to stop. Bradley is averaging 18 points per game in his last five, shooting just less than 51 percent from the field during that span.
Despite questionable decision making on defense this year, Bradley is still hailed as one of the league’s top stoppers. He is guilty of being a little overzealous and getting into foul trouble on occasion, but he sticks to his man like glue and doesn’t allow anything easy — an admirable defensive quality.
Bradley, who was extended for four years and $32 million in the summer of 2014, is a high-value contract. This, coupled with his upside (he did just turn 25 years old), makes him an attractive trade chip, perhaps even as a central piece in a potential deal.
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