We should have traded Avery Bradley while he was hot

[hpantazo]

I was saying this when he came back this year and many people on here ripped me for stating that we should trade him before his value drops. He's a flawed, limited player. He will always be a limited player. Not to mention that he likely won't hold up very long physically the way he plays and with his injury history. We should have pushed hard to trade him in a package for Cousins. We missed out.

[mmmmm]

I agree completely about the Rondo pairing, though I think AB would be great alongside a scoring PG (like Irving or Steph Curry).

Who would pass the ball?

I'm not sure I understand the question. You don't think Curry and Irving can pass?

About as well as Rondo can shoot.

I think Curry and Irving are perfectly adequate as point guards, though they are surely scoring point guards.

Rondo is an exceedingly poor 3 point shooter - the worst in the league among starting PGs, by my reckoning.

Just to clarify, I wouldn't think Bradley would pair as well with an offensive-minded PG who was an extremely poor 3 point shooter (like Monta Ellis, maybe).

  I don't think Rondo's that poor a 3 point shooter, he doesn't take very many so his numbers are skewed by end of quarter/shot clock heaves. If you watched his jump shooting he was edging closer to the line as the season progressed.

Hard to say whether he's poor or good as a 3PT shooter because, well, he hardly ever, ever takes them.  And why would he?  He has spent most of his time the last few years on a team with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce - two of the greatest 3PT shooters of all time and he'd be stupid - and hurting his team - to be taking 3PT shots when he has them to dish to instead.

Rondo may not be the greatest shooter from all ranges, but he has always been smart about only taking his own shots from ranges that he IS very good at.  For most of his career he has been well above average among PGs at finishing at the rim and at 16-23 ft jumpers.  So the vast majority of his shots have been from those two ranges.

To me, the ONLY real weakness in Rondo's game has been free throw shooting.  If he could just get his FT% up above 70%, he'd move to a new level.

[krook]

who should we trade for bradley then?

[bfrombleacher]

who should we trade for bradley then?

krook is on a roll.

The things people don't like about AB other GMs probably don't like either.

DeMarcus Cousins ain't coming through that door...not for AB.

[krook]

who should we trade for bradley then?

krook is on a roll.

The things people don't like about AB other GMs probably don't like either.

DeMarcus Cousins ain't coming through that door...not for AB.

utah jazz, millsap or jefferson
atlanta hawks al horford
houston rockets got nothing to offer
lakers pau gasol
new orleans robin lopez
this teams need a sg who can give them defense factor

but....it won't happen, a pipe dream guys
rondo + bradley combination is a threat to me, when they are together on court it's a lethal combination of sg and pg, i want bradley to stay...

[Boris Badenov]

And really, do we think that if he were good, Doc wouldn't have found a way to get him some of those shots?

  Again, I think he'll take a few more 3s going forward, but it's never going to be a huge part of his game, he's more effective creating for others than scoring.

I think we're pretty close to agreement on this. I was just pointing out that organizing offense around taking a lot of 3s seems to be a current successful strategy. If you have Rondo and Bradley out there at the same time, that means two out of three wing positions are lacking in terms of 3-point shooting.

You could make it work, as someone else pointed out, with a stretch 4 like Anderson, or Dirk, etc. and a good scoring 3 like Pierce.

Or, you could simply not focus on taking a lot of threes. But nearly every team at the top of the standings now seems to have an offense that takes and makes a lot of them. The top 5 by % are GS, MIA, OKC, SA and NY. The top 5 by made 3s are NY, HOU, MIA, LAL and ATL.

[LooseCannon]

Teams tend to over-value size and scoring.  Therefore, Bradley is probably not ideal trade bait.  If you want to fantasize about trades, Sullinger is probably the guy you want to contemplate including in trade packages.  If Sullinger comes back and his offense declines the way Bradley's has, will we be asking if we should have traded Sullinger before he was injured?

[BballTim]

And really, do we think that if he were good, Doc wouldn't have found a way to get him some of those shots?

  Again, I think he'll take a few more 3s going forward, but it's never going to be a huge part of his game, he's more effective creating for others than scoring.

I think we're pretty close to agreement on this. I was just pointing out that organizing offense around taking a lot of 3s seems to be a current successful strategy. If you have Rondo and Bradley out there at the same time, that means two out of three wing positions are lacking in terms of 3-point shooting.

You could make it work, as someone else pointed out, with a stretch 4 like Anderson, or Dirk, etc. and a good scoring 3 like Pierce.

Or, you could simply not focus on taking a lot of threes. But nearly every team at the top of the standings now seems to have an offense that takes and makes a lot of them. The top 5 by % are GS, MIA, OKC, SA and NY. The top 5 by made 3s are NY, HOU, MIA, LAL and ATL.

  The average starting sg takes about 4 threes per 40 minutes, Bradley averaged 3.5 per 40 minutes this year. I don't think it would take much for him to be above average in 3 point attempts for shooting guards.

[EJPLAYA]

who should we trade for bradley then?

krook is on a roll.

The things people don't like about AB other GMs probably don't like either.

DeMarcus Cousins ain't coming through that door...not for AB.

Ding ding ding... We have a winner. This was my point. Right now the answer is not many because he has exposed himself as a guy who can't play the point, and isn't a very good offensive player. After last season he appeared to have some decent offensive upside, and no one really knew that he couldn't play the point since Rondo was there doing it. GM's could at least be fooled into thinking he had a lot more upside than just a good defender. That is why I said we SHOULD have traded him before.

Fact is that undersized two guards RARELY make it in the NBA. At best they are bench role players which is where AB's career is likely headed. Good guy to come in off the bench and create havoc for the other teams guards. Not a starter. Shoulda got something out of him in a package deal.

[Onslaught]

I can make a long list of things that could've been done and even a few should've been done too. But you never know for sure how things will turn out. It's pointless.

[EJPLAYA]

I can make a long list of things that could've been done and even a few should've been done too. But you never know for sure how things will turn out. It's pointless.

Sure we do. First round exit. Superstars retiring or being moved. Lottery for years. That is what happens when you hold on too long and pretend you have a shot at a title. We will wallow in mediocrity for years just like we did after Bird and Mchale left. Sad but true.

[Boris Badenov]

And really, do we think that if he were good, Doc wouldn't have found a way to get him some of those shots?

  Again, I think he'll take a few more 3s going forward, but it's never going to be a huge part of his game, he's more effective creating for others than scoring.

I think we're pretty close to agreement on this. I was just pointing out that organizing offense around taking a lot of 3s seems to be a current successful strategy. If you have Rondo and Bradley out there at the same time, that means two out of three wing positions are lacking in terms of 3-point shooting.

You could make it work, as someone else pointed out, with a stretch 4 like Anderson, or Dirk, etc. and a good scoring 3 like Pierce.

Or, you could simply not focus on taking a lot of threes. But nearly every team at the top of the standings now seems to have an offense that takes and makes a lot of them. The top 5 by % are GS, MIA, OKC, SA and NY. The top 5 by made 3s are NY, HOU, MIA, LAL and ATL.

  The average starting sg takes about 4 threes per 40 minutes, Bradley averaged 3.5 per 40 minutes this year. I don't think it would take much for him to be above average in 3 point attempts for shooting guards.

If he gets his shooting % up into the 38-40% range, I'd think he'd be good with Rondo. Right now he's at 33.5% for his brief career to date. So, we'd be looking for substantial improvement.

Of course Jeff Green did pretty much the same thing this year, so it's possible. Bruce Bowen didn't get that aspect of his game together until his mid-20s either.

I'm much more hopeful that Bradley develops into a good shooter from 3 than I am about Rondo. But right now I think they are both liabilities in that area.

[CelticConcourse]

Should've could've would've

[Spicoli]

Whats the point of Bradley being a good cutter if he can't make a layup.

[kozlodoev]

The average starting sg takes about 4 threes per 40 minutes, Bradley averaged 3.5 per 40 minutes this year. I don't think it would take much for him to be above average in 3 point attempts for shooting guards.

The problem is, the average shooting guard makes 37% of their threes. Bradley doesn't. That's an issue.