I voted yes, because if Bradley was in this draft I don't think he goes in the top 15. As an example, nbadraft.net has Jared Sullinger at 15 right now, who would you rather have going forward? Given he has already had a fairly serious knee injury and his game is predicated a great deal on athleticism, I would make that trade and wouldn't give it a second thought.
I have serious issues with the thinking that Sullinger is going to be a very good NBA player. He has very little or wingspan compared to the better portion of NBA power forwards and has no facing the basket game. help defenses with big long centers and PFs with eat him alive in the post.
Without an outside game to compliment his back to the basket game, I see him struggling in the NBA. His ceiling might be Kris Humphries. I would rather have Bradley and his excellent shooting mechanics, superb defense and ability to learn and grow than Sullinger.
Actually as Sullinger gets measured out and does the various workouts for teams, my guess is his stock will fall, possibly out of the lottery.
15 is out of the lottery. Terrence Ross is projected at 19. He is better than Bradley in my opinion.
Bradley is an undersized SG that relies on athleticism that had already had one serious knee injury. He isn't a great outside shooter. His ball handling is below average for SG's, which means he can't start at PG, but his size will be a big problem against many SG's (he will just get backed down and shot over). Bradley is a solid first guard off the bench type player, but that is the best he will ever be. I'd much rather take the chance on a young guy that could be a lot more (nbadraft.net picks 11-15 are Tyler Zeller, Meyers Leonard, Perry Jones, Kendall Marhsall, Jared Sullinger - heck even 16-20 seem like better options to me they are - Moe Harkless, John Henson, Doron Lamb, Terrence Ross, Terrence Jones). I'd probably take every single one of those players over Avery Bradley.
Ross is nowhere as good as Bradley.
Bradley is undersized as a SG but has the length of a SF with an unreal 6'7.5" wingspan and tremendous leaping ability. There are possibly 2 SGs in the league I could see Bradley having trouble with due to size, Kobe and Wade. Guess what, even players the size of Wade and Kobe have trouble with them. It has to do with talent, not size.
Bradley's ability to handle the ball has leaped considerably this year as the year has progressed. He will be a fine combo guard but his real position will be at shooting guard.
Bradley is actually a very good outside shooter. But, much like Rip Hamilton is a great outside shooter, he just might not have three point range, yet. Hamilton never developed it but it didn't make him a tremendously less effective player. I think Bradley could develop a three point shoot but if he doesn't, he still is very good from 15-20 feet away from the basket.
Beyond the first 5-6 players in the draft there is no guarantee that anyone will be a solid NBA player. Bradley already is a solid NBA player and his learning curve has taken on an exponential upward incline. Next year I expect him to be a starting SG for the Celtics and part of the best defensive back court duo in the league by far.
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Topic: Would you trade Bradley for a top 15 pick in the 2012 draft? (Read 10149 times)