is AB the long term answer at the sg spot?

[Tr1boy]

Great defensive player, athletic but also only 6'2-6'3, cant create his own shot and limited to hitting open mid range jump shots and cutting in for layups

The main thing for me is the lack of size. He had problems guarding jr smith and other bigger athletic players at times.

He can still impact the team with his defense but im not sure for how long before he gets injured again or runs out of batteries.

So the question is even at his best, will danny give him a nice extension to be our starting sg for the long term? Be a trade candidate in a yr or two?  Did he play out of his mind and really should be a backup sg/pg?

Some ppl here still miss ray allen and having a traditional sg that can shoot/score more instead, which i can understand.

Also to consider:Some real talented sg like selden, harris, young , herzonja possibly coming out of 2014 draft.

Thoughts?

[D.o.s.]

Not as the starting SG, no. But he's proven to be an excellent PG defender in a league that's totally swamped with above average point guards, so he's definitely worth holding on to as long as possible.

One of the bright spots of last year was watching the defensive havoc of a Bradley/Lee backcourt.

[Tr1boy]

Not as the starting SG, no. But he's proven to be an excellent PG defender in a league that's totally swamped with above average point guards, so he's definitely worth holding on to as long as possible.

One of the bright spots of last year was watching the defensive havoc of a Bradley/Lee backcourt.

I agree. But is he going to accept a demotion?

We could afford him to start the last couple of years bc we had big name players on the team. But now that they are gone and need more production i wonder how it will turn out.

[D.o.s.]

I think it depends on health.

And there's also the fact that he's still one of the young guys on the team, even though it doesn't feel like it. He's younger than Lee and Crawford (and Rondo).

How Stevens handles the ego-massaging that is roster rotation is one of the many things that'll be really interesting to check out this season.

[PhoSita]

"Long term answer" implies that he can be the every day starting shooting guard for years to come. 

Right now, Avery has shown himself to be a stupendous, tenacious defender who, due to his size, is probably best suited to hounding opposing point guards rather than shooting guards.

He's also been fairly injury prone in his short career.

Lastly, he's been a rather mediocre offensive player who has had some flashes, most notably a 1-2 month stretch in the 2012 season where his jumpshot was falling and he was developing some nice chemistry with Rondo and scoring at a decent rate with good efficiency.

Overall, I'd say that it's hard for me to feel optimistic that he will be that "long term answer" just because I tend to think that injuries and his overall style of play may force him to be more of a short minutes, "energy guy" type of player, especially when his size is considered.  I rather doubt that he'll ever be more than an average player on the offensive end, and I think even that would be an accomplishment.

None of this is to say that I don't think Avery is a really nice player who will be valuable for a while.  I just don't know that I'd commit to him being the "long term answer" just because if a better two-way player with more prototypical SG / SF size came along, I'd probably prefer to invest in that player instead.

[ManUp]

No.

IMO, Bradley is a specialist at this point. He's a guy you have on your bench that you use in very specific situations. His only NBA level skill is defending. Production wise he brings almost nothing to the floor in terms of points, rebounds, and assists. Players as one-dimensional as he is usually aren't NBA starters.

You may like Avery Bradley more, but fact a guy like Courtney Lee is better. He's more consistent, more well round, with a better BBIQ, and size for the position. Courtney Lee could very well be Bradley's best case scenario. I think Bradley is a better offensive player than he's shown, but his lack of confidence is something that will hold him back.

I think Bradley right now has more value as a trade chip to us then he will as a player.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

We are being unfairly harsh on this kid because he struggled to run the point last season. I reckon within the right system, his cuts to the rim, mid range jumper, corner 3 plus a bit of confidence could add up to a very efficient complimentary piece on offense. We saw a bit of that in the back end of the 2011-2012 season, and I feel its the best starting point for him to contribute on offense.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I love AB but ask me after the season is over b/c if he is offensively the same as last season, it's a no, unless our other 4 can make up for him. He hurt us on offense last season. Your 5 starters don't have to be great on offense but they at least need to be serviceable. AB has to at the least give us 3s. I don't like Ray but he gave the offense and wasn't terrible on D. Last season AB was terrible on offense, that cannot continue to be the case.

[LarBrd33]

definitely not.  Long-term he's a backup point guard or a role playing "PG by Default" type who only focuses on defense. 

I honestly think in 5 years, you have a better chance of seeing Bradley as the starting PG on the Celtics than the starting SG on the Celtics.  More likely he's not even on the team at that point.

[Galeto]

definitely not.  Long-term he's a backup point guard or a role playing "PG by Default" type who only focuses on defense. 

I honestly think in 5 years, you have a better chance of seeing Bradley as the starting PG on the Celtics than the starting SG on the Celtics.  More likely he's not even on the team at that point.

He is absolutely not a point guard.  He can't even dribble the ball adequately!  He is way past the age that he can become a point guard.

When I saw that he wasn't playing point guard at Texas at all even though his combo guard billing made it seem like a possibility, something I thought his obscenely high ranking would at least afford him the chance, I thought it was because of deference to an upperclassman or Rick Barnes being Rick Barnes.  Little did I know that the notion of Bradley being a point guard was ridiculous.

He really didn't even play point guard last season after Rondo went down.  He was mainly the player who brought the ball up but as far as running a team, playing pick and roll, distributing touches, getting teammates into sets and all that, that fell mostly to Pierce, Terry and Garnett.  I just don't understand why someone has to be designated a point guard.  It devalues the skill of position.

[Galeto]

We are being unfairly harsh on this kid because he struggled to run the point last season. I reckon within the right system, his cuts to the rim, mid range jumper, corner 3 plus a bit of confidence could add up to a very efficient complimentary piece on offense. We saw a bit of that in the back end of the 2011-2012 season, and I feel its the best starting point for him to contribute on offense.

He still did that after Rondo went down because he didn't play point guard.  Making plays for his teammates did not get in the way of his game because he still spent the bulk of his time on the floor at the corner.  His struggles were largely due to not shooting well.  After Rondo went down, he actually went on a nice run of games in which he shot really well.  In a game at Philly, I remember thinking that Bradley was playing himself into the 8 million plus salary range as a defender who has the versatility to score from deep, in the mid-range off the dribble and by cutting to the rim with his superb speed and quickness.  I thought of how far he had come and how he might have set himself up for life.  Then he got into a terrible shooting funk and never got out of it.

[clover]

Very likely not.  But I hope he boosts his value this year as a trading chip.  Same with Sully and Rondo.

Green and Olynyk are my two starters on the next Celtics championship.

[lightspeed5]

with rondo yes

[McHales Pits]

I don't believe he is a long term starter. I think his size and ball-handling ability prevent that. Playing with Rondo hides some of his flaws because he was able to play off the ball to spot up and maximize his energy for his "famous" full-court ball pressure. As we saw once Rondo went down, his ball-handling/offense was exploited.

I do think he has a role on a championship caliber team however. As someone else said - the league is flush with athletic guard talent and having someone capable of stopping them is important.

But his next contract will be telling regarding his future with the team. One of the number one rules to follow when building an NBA franchise is to not overpay for role players unless you are a legitimate championship contender. Do I think DA should spend 5-6 M on him if he plans on having him play 20-25 MPG? Questionable, but I'd prefer something in the 3-4.5 M range.

In summation, I'd say he has more actual value to the team than as trade bait at this point, but his long-term future with the team is murky at best. This next season should help us determine who AB is.

[Bankshot]

No