Is Avery Bradley destined to be a Bust?!

[radiohead]

Avery Bradley was being compared to John Wall in high school. But there's a reason why Wall was selected at #1 and Bradley at #19. Injuries may have slowed Bradley down and scared off teams in the process. But Danny drafted him as a "low cost, high return" kind of guy. Think Leon Powe, Big Baby, and even Semih. Baby has proven to be a steal. Powe was also considered as a second round steal before suffering his third acl. This year, Semih is looking good for a second round pick. As for Avery, if he pans out then Danny will look like a genius once again. If he doesn't, then he joins the likes of Gerald Green, Gabe Pruitt, etc. Is he destined to be a bust based on these early games? I don't think so. I'd like to give the kid more time to develop. But if he doesn't, i wouldn't lose sleep over it. He'd be a major bust if he was a top 10 pick. But for someone taken at the low teens, then i guess it was more of "potential" based pick. No worries if he makes it or not.

[gar]

Rondo was taken at 18 and I can't say I saw his promise all that early; but at least you saw flashes of it.

[CrossCL]

Honestly, Bradley has all the tools to be a great player. He just looks scared as hell and makes some easily correctable mistakes i.e.
1. He's prone to standing straight up on defense sometimes. You can get away with it in college but in the NBA you need to be in a defensive stance 100% of the time and if Bradley stays down low, he can contain anyone in the league.

2. He looks scared as hell when hes asked to run the point and bring the ball up. You can tell his confidence is negative right now and he's trying to do too much. He isn't able to protect the ball too well because he's busy worrying about running plays and making the correct pass.

3. Off- the ball, his shot looks pretty smooth when shooting off the catch in the midrange, once he gets the jitters out im sure hell be fine in this respect.

The answer to these problems? PLAYING TIME AND PRACTICE. it has been said hundreds of times already but most players are able to correct these problems during the preseason and practice. If he continues to have these problems by the end of the year and or next, then we can start discussing whether or not he is a "bust"

[GranTur]

Who knows but right now he's looking like JR Giddens.

JR Giddens was petrified to shoot the ball and never showed the capacity to be a superior defender.

Avery has flashes of elite on-ball defense. He also has a nice form on his jumper.

We will learn more once he has the opportunity to develop a rhythm.

[droopdog7]

Bradley's biggest problem is that he isn't a PG.  And he doesn't look like he wants to be one either.  From the looks of it, Bradley has a looong way to go.  He is a project as a PG.  And whenever you are asking someone to change what they are after they have reached the NBA, there is always a chance of them being a bust.

[Change]

Was Chauncey Billups a Bust? Was Joe Johnson a Bust?

I hope Avery isn't distraught. He's like a deer in headlights out there. The coaching staff setting him to fail right now. Avery Bradley is not a point-Guard. That doesn't mean he can't develop that aspect of his game, but he is not there yet. You have to put your young player in positions to succeed. Instead Avery is being forced to play out of his element. He isn't comfortable yet with the ball in his hands. Avery needs and should play off the ball. They also need to run some plays for him to try to build his confidence. The more comfortable he feels out there, the easier it will for him to make that transition. This kid has a lot of potential. I just hope The coaching staff don't ruin him.

I don't know how psyche is. But Doc should not go away from Avery. At least not until he builds some confidence. Put him in positions to succeed.

[xmuscularghandix]

He’s 20, and he only played one year in college.

JR Giddens sucked after playing for 5 years in college…

I thought these threads only started on off days? Didn’t we play today?

[GreenFaith1819]

Avery Bradley will be fine, and have a good NBA career. He reminds me of someone who could become another Joe Dumars one day.

He just needs some experience under his wings. Danny brought him in due to his defense, so that's a plus.

[Spicoli]

The guy looks terrible so far. I agree with all the other posters who say that if a guy has "IT" he will at least show a glimpse of "IT" from time to time. I have seen no such thing from Avery. Not to say that he won't one day, but so far, not so good.

[Rondo_is_better]

He just has literally no idea what's going on. He looks like a high school player thrust into an NBA game with all the physical tools but nothing else. Its like his one year at Texas didn't even happen.

- His Ft's are abominable
- his athleticism is good, but not honed (honed: think Nate Robinson)
- his shot is alright, but not deadly. Not quick enough or with a high enough release (pick one, I guess)
- his ball handling is not up to par yet. Its good, certainly good enough for college ball, but with the vicious on-ball defense played in the NBA, its just not up to snuff yet.

He could've really benefited from 2 or 3 more years in college. Right now he is just the epitome of Not Ready.

[Bahku]

Anyone can be a bust if you've got the money to pay a decent sculptor.

But seriously ... I've seen flashes of brillinace from Avery, and he's amazingly talented, but I think he's way out of his element in the NBA, and just is not ready for the "Big Stage", so to speak. I'd like to see more of him before casting my final ballot, but not at the expense of similar horrible performances for us.

[Atzar]

Anybody who says they've never seen flashes from Avery, or that he hasn't shown that he has 'it', needs to watch this kid play defense.  Aside from getting blown away by Jeff Teague on one drive - and he's not the first Teague has left in the dust - he's shown that he's amazingly gifted at keeping his body in front of his man. 

Having said that, this thread is at least two years too early.  It even goes further than youth and inexperience - he missed the offseason, training camp, preseason and the first few weeks of the regular season with an ankle problem.  By many accounts he was mishandled at Texas, so in a sense this is the first time he's ever had a chance to learn to play basketball, instead of just relying on athleticism and raw talent.

In the future, he should actually be a very good fit on this team, given its love for defense and midrange jumpers.

[LooseCannon]

Avery Bradley is a lottery-level talent who fell down to where the Celtics were drafting because more players than usual came out early to avoid being drafted in a potential lockout year.  At 19, he was the sixth freshman drafted, when only four were drafted in 2009.  Six sophomores were drafted ahead of Bradley.

As has been noted, he has shown flashes of brilliance on defense, which may not be noticed by some philistine fans who think that defense is all about blocks and steals.

I've said that Bradley needs some time to play next to a legitimate point guard, but he doesn't seem likely to be on the court at the same time as Rondo.

[Celtics4ever]

He is rookie, give him some time.  Not many rookies could crack our lineup.  Playing against Rondo in practice will help both him and Rondo as competition is a good thing to develop skill.

Raw but most rooks are lacking in some areas.  You'd expect a top ten pick to contribute immediately which Bradley is not.  Where he is picked you kind of hope they will stick and make the practive roster unless you get lucky.  I trust Danny.  One thing he has done well is pick low and get guys who can contribute.

Some people here have zero patience.  Way too early to call him a bust.  He was a gamble, but all draft picks are.   So was Greg Oden for example.

[GreenFaith1819]

To attempt to put things in perspective, how much have we heard from the #2 pick, Evan Turner? Not much. He started a few games, but has been injured and even when he started, he was not that spectacular.

Same with Derrick Favors, the number 3 pick.

AB will be fine.