Could Bradley Be Like Joe Dumars?

[Atzar]

Just judging by the video (which is obviously not a good way to judge a player's game, but it's all I have to work with), he has a pretty good handle, a good midrange game and freakish athleticism.  He needs to improve his strength and his left hand (he didn't finish with his left on any of the clips in that video). 

[Assassin70]

  Hard to find a good highlight real of him playing @ Texas.  All the impressive easy to find footage is of him coming out of HS.

[FrDrake]

Ummm, Joe Dumars, NBA Champion, Hall of Famer, 14 year NBA career, '89 Finals MVP, lock down MJ defender, great shooter, etc...

Avery Bradley, zero NBA games.  Gimme a break.   

[xmuscularghandix]

Well I agree with FrDrake that we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.

But he does have the same body type, he has the desire to be a good defender, he’s proven to be a good defender so far, and he’s shown the ability catch and shoot from outside/ pull up from mid-range. AND he’s only 19 years old... so if this kid is a player, he could be here for a while.

[Celtics4ever]

Red thought the BYU kid had a body like Larry once and it didn't pan out.  I think body types can be really deceiving in basketball.   One would have thought that Kedrick Brown would have been an all star by his body type but he was a stiff.   Either he can play or he can't but his body has little to do with it.   Gervin was skinny as a rail and Barkley was at times pudgy they both could play and score.  Just because someone resembles someone in build means nothing,

[pearljammer10]

Doubtful... Was Tony Allen like Joe Dumars? I think when its all said and done Tony will have had a better career than Bradley and that's not saying much.

[Alleyoopster]

I like this pick, but wouldn't put too much pressure on him. Let him mature in time.  Offensively, many of his statistics don't even match up well with other college guards. Granted he had a teammate who took over much of the offense. 

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Just-By-the-Numbers-The-2010-Shooting-Guard-Crop-3517 

[PRIDE]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-draft-celtics

“The first name and the first tape he showed me” was Avery Bradley, Rivers said after the Celtics took the Texas guard with the 19th selection in the NBA draft. “It was a guy he really wanted to show me. And then he said, ‘I don’t think he’s going to be there.”’

Bradley was DA's guy from the start. He saw something in him just like he did with Rondo. Imagine the speed and ball pressure with those two in the same back court. Danny made the right move here adding a future starter with a mid 1st round pick. Now he just needs to add a young big that can rebound and has a high ceiling. We have young talent and future cap flexibility. The future is bright.

[xmuscularghandix]

Doubtful... Was Tony Allen like Joe Dumars? I think when its all said and done Tony will have had a better career than Bradley and that's not saying much.

I have a good feeling that this kid will have a better career than TA. 

[KG Living Legend]

 I think it's unfair to compare Bradley to Joe Dumars.

 Bradley will clearly have a much better career than Joe D.

 He will be a first ballot HOF Player. Go on to win six championships, and be the greatest guard defender of all time.

 Disrespecting  Avery like that, come on man.

[bdm860]

Why is it so ridiculous to compare Bradley to Joe Dumars?

I loved Dumars when he played, but let's not get carried away here.

Dumars was drafted 18th in '85.
Bradley was drafted 19th in '10.
Pretty comparable (and Dumars went to McNeese State so it's not like everybody saw this guy as the next sure thing).

Forget the Finals awards and championships, while certainly a great accomplishment, if Dumars had played on a bad team, we might not be thinking of him so highly.

Dumars - 6x All Star, pretty tough to beat.

1x All-NBA 2nd team and 2x All-NBA 3rd team, definitely attainable but a huge challenge.

4x All NBA Defensive team, also a major challenge, but again not outside the realm of possibility (especially considering undrafted Bruce Bowen has eight 1st and 2nd team appearances and undrafted Ben Wallace has six 1st and 2nd team appearances and 4 DPOY awards).


It's not like the OP said Bradley is without a doubt the next coming of once in a lifetime talent like Magic, Bird, or Jordan.  He was saying maybe he could turn out to be similar to Joe Dumars, and I think that's a very reasonable best case scenario to put on a player. 

So what's the problem oldmanspeaks and FrDrake?  I don't get why it's unfair to compare any guard to Joe Dumars.  Future/young NBA players are compared to past NBA players all the time, are you guys not used to this or something?

[bdm860]

Back in '85, when the Pistons drafted a guy out of McNeese state with the 18th pick, I'm sure some guys said maybe this guy can be the next Michael Cooper or Alvin Robertson, or dare I say next Dennis Johnson, and some people probably acted all disrespected about that too.

[xmuscularghandix]

Why is it so ridiculous to compare Bradley to Joe Dumars?

I loved Dumars when he played, but let's not get carried away here.

Dumars was drafted 18th in '85.
Bradley was drafted 19th in '10.
Pretty comparable (and Dumars went to McNeese State so it's not like everybody saw this guy as the next sure thing).

Forget the Finals awards and championships, while certainly a great accomplishment, if Dumars had played on a bad team, we might not be thinking of him so highly.

Dumars - 6x All Star, pretty tough to beat.

1x All-NBA 2nd team and 2x All-NBA 3rd team, definitely attainable but a huge challenge.

4x All NBA Defensive team, also a major challenge, but again not outside the realm of possibility (especially considering undrafted Bruce Bowen has eight 1st and 2nd team appearances and undrafted Ben Wallace has six 1st and 2nd team appearances and 4 DPOY awards).


It's not like the OP said Bradley is without a doubt the next coming of once in a lifetime talent like Magic, Bird, or Jordan.  He was saying maybe he could turn out to be similar to Joe Dumars, and I think that's a very reasonable best case scenario to put on a player. 

So what's the problem oldmanspeaks and FrDrake?  I don't get why it's unfair to compare any guard to Joe Dumars.  Future/young NBA players are compared to past NBA players all the time, are you guys not used to this or something?

Exactly.

There are ALOT of similarities.

I’m sure that the scouting reports suggested that Dumars should play PG because of his size, and i’m sure that they also said he could survive at the SG because of his defensive abilities.

Dumars: 18th Pick, 6’3”, 190 lbs, Excellent Perimeter Defender, Silky Jumpshot
Bradley:  19th Pick, 6’3”, 180 lbs, VERY Good Perimeter Defender (so far), Silky Jumpshot

Like BDM said, this really isn’t out of quesion... I think this is a perfect comparison to mark the ceiling for Bradley’s potential.

[Jon]

Why is it so ridiculous to compare Bradley to Joe Dumars?

I loved Dumars when he played, but let's not get carried away here.

Dumars was drafted 18th in '85.
Bradley was drafted 19th in '10.
Pretty comparable (and Dumars went to McNeese State so it's not like everybody saw this guy as the next sure thing).

Forget the Finals awards and championships, while certainly a great accomplishment, if Dumars had played on a bad team, we might not be thinking of him so highly.

Dumars - 6x All Star, pretty tough to beat.

1x All-NBA 2nd team and 2x All-NBA 3rd team, definitely attainable but a huge challenge.

4x All NBA Defensive team, also a major challenge, but again not outside the realm of possibility (especially considering undrafted Bruce Bowen has eight 1st and 2nd team appearances and undrafted Ben Wallace has six 1st and 2nd team appearances and 4 DPOY awards).


It's not like the OP said Bradley is without a doubt the next coming of once in a lifetime talent like Magic, Bird, or Jordan.  He was saying maybe he could turn out to be similar to Joe Dumars, and I think that's a very reasonable best case scenario to put on a player.  

So what's the problem oldmanspeaks and FrDrake?  I don't get why it's unfair to compare any guard to Joe Dumars.  Future/young NBA players are compared to past NBA players all the time, are you guys not used to this or something?

Exactly.

There are ALOT of similarities.

I’m sure that the scouting reports suggested that Dumars should play PG because of his size, and i’m sure that they also said he could survive at the SG because of his defensive abilities.

Dumars: 18th Pick, 6’3”, 190 lbs, Excellent Perimeter Defender, Silky Jumpshot
Bradley:  19th Pick, 6’3”, 180 lbs, VERY Good Perimeter Defender (so far), Silky Jumpshot

Like BDM said, this really isn’t out of quesion... I think this is a perfect comparison to mark the ceiling for Bradley’s potential.

If you want to say that they're similar heights, got drafted at similar slots, played good college defense, and can hit a jumper, then sure, they're similar.  

However, it was the same logic that made people compare Gerald Green to Tracy McGrady (high school phenom, crazy athleticism, can hit a jumper, etc.).  

I'm not someone ruling anything out at this point, but being that we've yet to even see this kid in a Summer League game (which in itself is misleading enough), I think we probably should just adopt a wait and see attitude.  

[bdm860]

Why is it so ridiculous to compare Bradley to Joe Dumars?

I loved Dumars when he played, but let's not get carried away here.

Dumars was drafted 18th in '85.
Bradley was drafted 19th in '10.
Pretty comparable (and Dumars went to McNeese State so it's not like everybody saw this guy as the next sure thing).

Forget the Finals awards and championships, while certainly a great accomplishment, if Dumars had played on a bad team, we might not be thinking of him so highly.

Dumars - 6x All Star, pretty tough to beat.

1x All-NBA 2nd team and 2x All-NBA 3rd team, definitely attainable but a huge challenge.

4x All NBA Defensive team, also a major challenge, but again not outside the realm of possibility (especially considering undrafted Bruce Bowen has eight 1st and 2nd team appearances and undrafted Ben Wallace has six 1st and 2nd team appearances and 4 DPOY awards).


It's not like the OP said Bradley is without a doubt the next coming of once in a lifetime talent like Magic, Bird, or Jordan.  He was saying maybe he could turn out to be similar to Joe Dumars, and I think that's a very reasonable best case scenario to put on a player. 

So what's the problem oldmanspeaks and FrDrake?  I don't get why it's unfair to compare any guard to Joe Dumars.  Future/young NBA players are compared to past NBA players all the time, are you guys not used to this or something?

Exactly.

There are ALOT of similarities.

I’m sure that the scouting reports suggested that Dumars should play PG because of his size, and i’m sure that they also said he could survive at the SG because of his defensive abilities.

Dumars: 18th Pick, 6’3”, 190 lbs, Excellent Perimeter Defender, Silky Jumpshot
Bradley:  19th Pick, 6’3”, 180 lbs, VERY Good Perimeter Defender (so far), Silky Jumpshot

Like BDM said, this really isn’t out of quesion... I think this is a perfect comparison to mark the ceiling for Bradley’s potential.

If you want to say that they're similar heights, got drafted at similar slots, played good college defense, and can hit a jumper, then sure, they're similar. 

However, it was the same logic that made people compare Gerald Green to Tracy McGrady (high school phenom, crazy athleticism, can hit a jumper, etc.). 

I'm not someone ruling anything out at this point, but being that we've yet to even see this kid in a Summer League game (which in itself is misleading enough), I think we probably should just adopt a wait and see attitude. 

But see I think the Gerald Green to Tracy McGrady comparison was fair too.  Just because a player doesn't hit his potential (and in the case of Gerald, pretty much hit the worst case scenario) doesn't mean you can't project out what the future might be.  And along with a best case scenario comes a worst case scenario.  Maybe some people don't understand the words like "could" "maybe" and "potential" but every NBA player has a best and worst case scenario attached to them.  Few will hit (or exceed) the best case scenario, a lot more will hit (or fall below) the worst case scenario, and a bunch will end up somewhere in the middle.  No need to wait to make a projection.  Just understand there's a huge likelihood for error based on limited information.

Now if you said, we didn't need to re-sign Ray because we have Bradley who is the next Joe Dumars, I would definitely say well let's wait and see.  Or if you said why is Pierce complaining about his supporting cast when we just teamed him with the next Tracy McGrady, then again it's a lets wait and see approach.  Or if you didn't want to trade the rights to Jeff Green for Ray Allen because Jeff Green might be the next Scottie Pippen, I'd say you you're crazy you gotta take that risk.  But when you're not making major moves based on these projections, then project away and understand best case scenario is always a stretch but not unattainable.