Avery Bradley will be the next Russell Westbrook

[Fafnir]

Good cutting off the ball will get points no matter how much a defense respects you. Either for you or for a teammate when your man ignores his help responsiblities.

This is very true, TP.  This is kinda what we were sold on with Marquis when he came here, but I have seen Avery do it much better than Quis ever did.

Marquis just can't finish anything in the paint anymore. It's shocking he used to be so good down there.

[CelticG1]

I find it funny people dismissing the comparison because people are basing it off of Bradley right now acting like he has no room to grow. Pretty funny.

I also don't get the talk about him being to small for a shooting guard, cause does that really matter in todays NBA? There are 6'9" guys starting at center, shooting guards playing pg, Melo playing power forward, Paul George playing SG.  The NBA is so unconventional now, its mainly about putting good basketball players, athletic players with talent on the floor. I think height is becoming a bit overated especially when you are talking a couple inches

[GreenFaith1819]

I think it's fun trying to compare AB to current (or past) players.

Whether or not we all agree, I think we CAN agree that Avery "Honey Badger", "Joe Dumars", "Sidney Moncrief", "Chauncey Billups", Bradley has been big for us lately.

I cannot think of anyone else here recently that's been home-grown (drafted), and have played so well as a starter.

Even better was that I certainly didn't see this, as some others.

Thank you AGAIN, Ray Allen.

It's been great, to say the least. I don't think we'd be where we are at if it weren't for AB's play. He hasn't taken over games (yet), but he has certainly contributed.

Even in BOS's system, my earlier comparisons of Dumars and Moncrief may not allow him such recognition as those two, but hey as long as it keeps adding to the win column it's all good for me.

[pearljammer10]

I love what bradley is doing but there is no way he ends up as a westbrook. Bradley is super quick on defense but he doesnt have the explosiveness with the ball that westbrook has. Moving without the ball he is beyond stellar but i dont think he will be able to handle the ball as well to get to the bucket and score like westbrook.

Based off the galactic improvement hes shown from last season to this season, he will learn how, he has the athletic ability and speed.

I dont deny his galatic ability to improve. however he isnt a great ball handler or a great passer... Those are too skills that, yes, you can improve upon, however its definitely something that you either have or you dont. I just dont see him improving at great lengths as an explosive ballhandler as westbrook is.

[ctrey]

I think he compares to a rich man's Ben Gordon. Think Gordon with much better defense. I was looking and Bradley has averaged 19 a game over the last 5 games, 15 per game for the month of April on just crazy .549 shooting including .667 from three. So this guy is scoring 15 a game on a very balanced team and doing it uber-efficiently. This is really pretty impressive.

I live here in Texas and watched him play at UT so I have always thought he was a massive steal at 19. Ainge really knocked it out of the park with this one.

[alajet]

I think he compares to a rich man's Ben Gordon. Think Gordon with much better defense. I was looking and Bradley has averaged 19 a game over the last 5 games, 15 per game for the month of April on just crazy .549 shooting including .667 from three. So this guy is scoring 15 a game on a very balanced team and doing it uber-efficiently. This is really pretty impressive.

I live here in Texas and watched him play at UT so I have always thought he was a massive steal at 19. Ainge really knocked it out of the park with this one.

Gordon isn't exactly a team player. He hits incredible shots, though, which makes him more of a scorer.
Then again, in terms of efficiency, I don't know. He isn't that good. But remembering his 6th man days in Chicago, Gordon's best still remains a notch above Avery. If Avery keeps it up like this, that margin will be narrowed down significantly.

[Ticketz]

If anything he'll be very similar to John Wall without the great ball handling which says a lot... Once he gets very comfortable, he can go a long way!

[jgod213]

Yeah i don't much care for the Westbrook comparison as both of these guys have two different approaches to the game and two different attitudes (i can't stand Westbrook's preening).

I'd like to see him develope similar to Eric Gordon (besides health issues!).  Gordon was/is more of a pure scorer than Bradley and is a bit bigger, but Gordon cut his teeth on defense, effort, and efficient shot selection before becoming the man in LA.

[Roy H.]

I remember Monta Ellis comparisons when he was drafted.  I thought that was crazy talk, but I'm starting to see it now.  I don't think Bradley will ever be the crazy scorer that Ellis is, and he's certainly not as selfish in looking for his own shot, but I can at least see some similarities now.

[indeedproceed]

I remember Monta Ellis comparisons when he was drafted.  I thought that was crazy talk, but I'm starting to see it now.  I don't think Bradley will ever be the crazy scorer that Ellis is, and he's certainly not as selfish in looking for his own shot, but I can at least see some similarities now.

Sometimes, at night, if you squint just right, you can kinda see some Monta Ellis comparisons.

[prov1ml34]

First off, I will have to admit and those who go into the chats during games will attest, originally I hated everything that had to do with Avery Bradley. In the beginning, it seemed as though he didn't do a thing positive whenever he got a chance in games....I have gladly eaten crow as he has thoroughly surprised me.

I won't compare Bradley to any player yet but I was thinking about this and thought I would point it out. AB has essentially received NO training camps (he was hurt all last year and this year you can hardly call it a training camp) and with the extremely shortened schedule, he has received no practice time. Really, the only practice time this kid has seen was last year and at the out start of this season, as I noted above, I didn't see any positives.

Which means, Bradley has come in with hardly any prep time and has grown leaps and bounds over the course of this year which makes his transformation into a pretty important piece to this team and valuable player that much more remarkable. I am excited to see how much more he can grow with a true off season.

[moiso]

I don't see the Westbrook comparison other than they are both the same size and very athletic.  Westbrook is great off the dribble, Bradley is a great cutter.  Bradley scores in a manner more similar to JJ Redick than to ballhandling penetrators like Westbrook. 

[Galeto]

Also, mentioning Avery and J-Rich as elite athletes is devaluation of J-Rich's athleticism, which, at his peak, was on par with Vince Carter.

I wouldn't go that far.  Richardson was top of the line athletically as far as vertical explosiveness but he was never as fast as Bradley is.  They're both elite athletes with different peak strengths.

As far as cutting off the ball and whether its effectiveness is related to defensive attention, I guess there's some of that but Wade has gotten a bunch of points cutting off the ball ever since Lebron became his teammate.  I think it's safe to say that Wade gets a lot of defensive attention.  I can't say why someone is successful moving off the ball but even if defenders keyed on Bradley's cutting, he is so dang quick and fast that it's tough to stay with him anyway.  

[guava_wrench]

I don't see the Westbrook comparison other than they are both the same size and very athletic.  Westbrook is great off the dribble, Bradley is a great cutter.  Bradley scores in a manner more similar to JJ Redick than to ballhandling penetrators like Westbrook. 

Avery is looking pretty good right now shooting jumpers off of the dribble, which is Westbrook's favorite play.

Avery may also already be better from 3 than Westbrook. Westbrook is not very good from 3.

Westbrook is way ahead of Avery at handling the ball. It is interesting to remember the lack of confidence most had in Westbrook's ability to play PG coming out of college.

[Galeto]

My hopeful comparison when Bradley got selected was Arenas.  I thought he had the same body type and quickness and maybe, just maybe he could develop into that kind of explosive scorer from his underrated entrance into the league.  After seeing his handle, I gave up on that immediately.  This is sounding more negative than it should be.

Speaking of Arenas and Westbrook, I think these two are pretty similar except for Westbrook lacking Arenas' long-range bombing.