So as we all know, IT, MS and AB hit Free Agency in the summer of 2018, with Smart being a RFA.
I've made it known, especially during the stretch where the C's were winning a lot of games when AB was injured, that I would keep Smart (makes winning plays) and IT (legit star scorer), while Bradley is the "odd man out" maybe in a trade for another great player (front court help?).
But he's come back and been exceptional. Averaging around 19-20 a game and 6-7 rebounds a game, and his defense on the likes of Kyrie Irving and Steph Curry/Klay Thompson has been phenomenal.
I think the C's will go past the luxury tax to field a contender, but the question is how far into it they will go. Highly doubt they keep all three, so it's a conundrum.
Smart will probably be cheaper (definitely not a max-candidate). Like him or not, even with some defensive deficiencies, IT is a legit scorer and we don't have another one on the team. We saw how bad this team was in the stretch when IT was injured (they were something like 1-4 or 1-5 with the only win coming against a trashy Magic team). Without IT our offense takes a colossal hit especially against above .500 teams.
What do you guys think?