So , does anyone still think Bradley is starting quality after these playoffs?

[jeezem]

Yes, 3 games don't change the way he played all season and anchored a new group.

[255 Rings]

Don't sweat AB. By the time the cap rises next year, he'll be much easier to trade in a package for a higher caliber player. He's not a long term player here, he has too many 'averageness' on him and on contender team he'll be at best a 6th or 7th option. No way do we win a title with a tweener SG that can only spot-up midrange shoot J's and has terrible handles and poor passing skills. If a better SG becomes available and we can get him I assure you Bradley will be gone.

[Drucci]

I don't. I think Bradley is a good-to-great regular season player but that he doesn't perform all that well in the playoffs when he is supposed to play a big role so he's clearly better suited as a 6th to 7th man that you play to bring intense defense and some corner 3's for some spurts.

[LGC88]

This year was a bit special for Avery. We asked him to do a lot of things considering we don't have great offensive players yet.
I believe Bradley will become extremely important for our near future when the team is a contender. Use him as a 3rd option offense, running offense for him at the 3, a bit like we used to do it for Ray. As a 3 & D player behind a big 3, he will be a bargain and a nightmare for opposite teams. Soon his contract will worth peanuts as well.
I only see positive facts for Avery right now. The future looks promising for the C's.

[dreamgreen]

Starting caliber is kind of over rated IMO. But I do think he is a solid guard to have in your 3/4 man rotation at guard as long as a ball handler is out there with him. His greatest weakness is still ball handling so as a guard that hurts you.

[LooseCannon]

If Avery Bradley is your worst starter, you should be waltzing into the playoffs.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth #20]

This is why I come to Celticsblog, so I can learn from true basketball experts. Here I am thinking Bradley is starting quality but now I know I was wrong because I forgot to rate him on the last 3 games alone rather than what he did over the entire season. I am so grateful for these amazing takes on basketball personnel, this is an incredibly astute comment, it reminded me that being a Celtics fan I am supposed to turn my back on any player who has 3 bad games, here I was thinking fans should support the team, how dumb am I?

[GreenWarrior]

we have a bunch of players(AB included) that could have a role on a contender. starters? maybe. finishers? No! collectively this team has reached it's potential.

as for AB specifically? offensively this is exactly what I expected from him. he can't dribble, he takes bad shots and decision making is non existent.

I've been all over AB's shot taking since Brad Stevens unleashed him for this very reason. the shots he takes are absolutely horrid, and against the better teams they just aren't going to fall, they just aren't, that's just the way it is.

most of those pull up jumpers AB makes are with a defender in his face. while he has hit these shots a lot - contested shots are still bad shots, taking bad shots catches up with you eventually. and here we are.

[Celtics4ever]

Sooner or later being a tweener is going to expose you on some level.   He is a PG sized body with a SG 's skillset.   Sometimes he can compensate with his athletic ability which is immense.  Other times a team like CLE can really bother him.

He is inconsistent a lot to me.   Good a few games bad a few.   He is what he is at this point, he has been in the league for five years.  This year he has regressed slightly in PPG and FG% and a bit in 3P%.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/4240/avery-bradley

Some of that is normal after a contract year I would assume.

[timpiker]

Bradley and Bass have been sucking.  Shots they made regularly in the regular season just aren't dropping.  Choking?

[LarBrd33]

As long as we were getting an expiring contract as well, I would have gladly taken a late 1st for Bradley (as we were reportedly offered).   I'd rather have more cap space this Summer.  Bradley is replaceable. 

[Kane3387]

I honestly don't know what to think of Bradley anymore.

I think he can be an effective starter, but I think under very particular circumstances surrounded by the right complementary personnel. I think he needs to play next to a bigger guard who can create and run the offense.

And I wonder whether that can be possible given the present roster.

You better hope that's Marcus smart

[td450]

Bradley isn't going to be a top 3 player on a title team, but he certainly could start for one. Most title teams have one or two role players that start.

He has made some nice incremental improvements as a passer and decision maker this year although you will never be able to run the offense through him.

I'm more than a little disappointed he hasn't made more of a leap forward this year with efficiency of his offense.  Part of that is due to the limited types of looks he gets. Stevens offense has taken away some of his back cutting options, and he rarely gets easy looks created by the other guards. He's actually being defended as the team's first or second option right now. I think he'll be more efficient on a team when he's the fourth or fifth option.

What he is is a great defender who has to be covered and can occasionally go off for 25 points. He's also still improving incrementally and should become somewhat more efficient as he gets older. There are a lot of defensive role players in this league who play major roles for good teams that can't contribute on offense any where near as much as he can.

He's also a good, hardworking guy who leads with his effort. At the beginning of game two, he had some defensive sequences against Kyrie Irving that were incredible. The league wide trend of overprotecting ball handlers has hurt him some, but no one in the league can play elite dribblers as tight as he can.

He's a solid, useful starter, but not a star. He's the least of our problems.

[Ilikesports17]

As long as we were getting an expiring contract as well, I would have gladly taken a late 1st for Bradley (as we were reportedly offered).   I'd rather have more cap space this Summer.  Bradley is replaceable.

I expect we could get at the least a late first for AB in the off season without taking on additional salary.

AB is still a good deal at his contract, however he does clog things up a bit, so if we need the extra 8 mil to go get another player I think we could move him for a pick without having any trouble at all.

There seem to be a lot of 1s and 2s potentially available this offseason: Lowry, Lawson, Middleton, Derozan, Green etc all of whom are superior players to AB. If you bring any of them in you can ship AB off and all of a sudden you've upgraded the position without sacrificing too much cap.

If you cant bring a 1 or 2 in you simply move forward with a pretty cost efficient backcourt.

[GreenWarrior]

Sooner or later being a tweener is going to expose you on some level.   He is a PG sized body with a SG 's skillset.   Sometimes he can compensate with his athletic ability which is immense.  Other times a team like CLE can really bother him.

He is inconsistent a lot to me.   Good a few games bad a few.   He is what he is at this point, he has been in the league for five years.  This year he has regressed slightly in PPG and FG% and a bit in 3P%.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/4240/avery-bradley

Some of that is normal after a contract year I would assume.

hmm? yeah sounds like a guy we can get whenever.

which is why I don't get the fascination from Celtics fans. and not with just Bradley, all of these players are nice to have on a contending team. but let's get the players that will make us contenders 1st, then get these players. these players are not the ones to build around.

and I can't stand hearing "if we had this or that, then(insert current player's name) would be this n' that". first off, no kidding they'd be better. but i'm not going after Lebron so IT can be a better player, it doesn't work that way.

every one of these players is trade fodder imo. the only guy i'd be hesitant to deal is Smart and that's only because as a rookie he's playing D like a 10 yr. vet. even then if the right deal comes along I'm jumping on it.