Could Avery Bradley develop into a Russell Westbrook type player?

[TripleOT]

No way dude. You don't develop athleticism like that. It's a genetic lottery thing. We might as well hope he develops to 6'6, too.

But I'm absolutely on board with the idea that Bradley should be more aggressive on the offensive end, especially if he's going to be our starting point while Rondo is out. That might have diminishing returns on his defense, though.

Bradley is a fantastic athlete.  Probably on par with Westbrook.  The problem is his skills.  He simply doesn't have the ballhandling or the instincts that Westbrook has, and his footwork (on offense...on defense, his footwork is spectacular) is pretty terrible.  Basically, it just seems like Bradley is behind on offensive fundamentals.  He got by on athleticism in highschool, and has been playing catchup ever since.  And, it would be nearly impossible to catch up with someone like Westbrook, who is going to continue to get better himself.

With that said, I do think Bradley has potential to improve significantly on offense.  I think he could be more like a poor man's Monta Ellis on offense...but with spectacular defense.

I think AB is quite a few levels below Westy when it comes to athleticism.  I do agree about the skills, and feel that AB is kind of a spazz -- very mechanical, which might help with his jumper, but doesn't with the rest of his offense. He has a horrible feel for offense, and is probably the least intuitive player I've ever seen attempt to play PG.     

[ddb]

No.  But that doesn't mean Avery isn't capable of getting a lot better.  The thing with Avery is, WHAT IS HE?  we know he can play defense.  He's very good defensively which will keep him in an NBA uniform for a long time.  He can also give you some minutes at the Point as a fill-in.  He's an undersized 2 who  hasn't proven to be able to consistently shoot or score yet.  So as of right now he projects to be a very good third guard.  But this is the year to prove to everyone that he can be more.  I have my doubts.

[Chris]

No way dude. You don't develop athleticism like that. It's a genetic lottery thing. We might as well hope he develops to 6'6, too.

But I'm absolutely on board with the idea that Bradley should be more aggressive on the offensive end, especially if he's going to be our starting point while Rondo is out. That might have diminishing returns on his defense, though.

Bradley is a fantastic athlete.  Probably on par with Westbrook.  The problem is his skills.  He simply doesn't have the ballhandling or the instincts that Westbrook has, and his footwork (on offense...on defense, his footwork is spectacular) is pretty terrible.  Basically, it just seems like Bradley is behind on offensive fundamentals.  He got by on athleticism in highschool, and has been playing catchup ever since.  And, it would be nearly impossible to catch up with someone like Westbrook, who is going to continue to get better himself.

With that said, I do think Bradley has potential to improve significantly on offense.  I think he could be more like a poor man's Monta Ellis on offense...but with spectacular defense.

I think AB is quite a few levels below Westy when it comes to athleticism.  I do agree about the skills, and feel that AB is kind of a spazz -- very mechanical, which might help with his jumper, but doesn't with the rest of his offense. He has a horrible feel for offense, and is probably the least intuitive player I've ever seen attempt to play PG.     

I think they are different kinds of athletes.  I agree that Westbrook is more explosive.  But Bradley has perhaps the quickest feet I have ever seen. 

The problem with Bradley is he has no idea how to use those feet on offense.  He still does not know how to jump when attacking the basket, and he really has no first step.  But you may have found the right word for him...spazz.

He is not far off from Tony Allen really, who was also a spazz.  A spazz can work as a defender, because you can just move your feet and create havoc.  But offensively, you need to be completely under control.

[Galeto]

No way dude. You don't develop athleticism like that. It's a genetic lottery thing. We might as well hope he develops to 6'6, too.

But I'm absolutely on board with the idea that Bradley should be more aggressive on the offensive end, especially if he's going to be our starting point while Rondo is out. That might have diminishing returns on his defense, though.

Bradley is a fantastic athlete.  Probably on par with Westbrook.  The problem is his skills.  He simply doesn't have the ballhandling or the instincts that Westbrook has, and his footwork (on offense...on defense, his footwork is spectacular) is pretty terrible.  Basically, it just seems like Bradley is behind on offensive fundamentals.  He got by on athleticism in highschool, and has been playing catchup ever since.  And, it would be nearly impossible to catch up with someone like Westbrook, who is going to continue to get better himself.

With that said, I do think Bradley has potential to improve significantly on offense.  I think he could be more like a poor man's Monta Ellis on offense...but with spectacular defense.

Poor mans' Monta?  Maybe statistically in terms of scoring efficiency because Monta's weak there but this comparison seems really off to me because Monta is one of the best and most acrobatic finishers around the rim.  He's basically the complete opposite of Bradley around the rim.  Monta's also a terrific passer, another area Bradley is terrible at.  Monta's a poor man's Westbrook in the sense that he's just as good finishing around the rim but doesn't get to the line as much or shoot as well from mid-range. Bradley just isn't in the same sphere as these guys.

My hope for Bradley is that he can become Afflalo.  If he can just make shots like his beautiful form says is possible, he can get there.

[Tr1boy]

No way. Bradley imo is exceeding himself in the nba by pure hard work on defense. His offense is limited to spot up shooting and cuts to the net. I have seen a few nice end to end , nice layups but its usually when his man is looking away for a sec.

Westbrooks can have three guys waiting for him and he can still score. Westbrook is 2 inches taller, longer reach, wingspan, quicker and can jump higher than ab.

Ab for me has potential to be like tony allen but a better shooting, sg version. Not a bad thing

[kozlodoev]

Sure. While we're at it, let's hope that Humphries will develop into a Karl Malone type.

[ddb]

Bradley IMO has the upside to be better then Tony Allen.  Especially on the offensive end.  But Avery is nowhere close to sniffing the firepower that Russ Westbrook packs

[Monkhouse]

No way...

The only thing Bradley has over Allen, or any defensive stoppers is his spot up 3. And even then last year it wasn't that great, and was pretty horrible.

If Bradley ever becomes Westbrook or even a poor man's I'll cry tears of joy.

He just isn't on the scale of athleticism and pure skill Westbrook has...

At the same age Westbrook was becoming a star, whereas Bradley was becoming the next Tony Allen.

I think Bradley needs to work more on ball handling. If he can make at least 3-4 easy or semi-hard contested layups, and score 2-3 triples while playing solid defense, then that's good enough for me. I'd rather have Jeff Green trying to score more, and letting our young bigs post up in the paint. We've seen how Bradley reacts after playing a full onslaught of full court pressure.

[Enzzo]

Don't see that happening. Westys too explosive, and much more of a threat then Bradley. While I do think AB has much more to show of his talents and I think he will eventually get there with experience, I dont think he'll be close to compairable with Westbook.

[PhoSita]

Russell Westbrook is one of the most explosive scorers in the league.

If Avery suddenly makes the jump from a 12 pp36 player to a 25 pp36 player, I'd be absolutely floored.

I agree with others who have said that Tony Allen seems like a better comparison.  If he can become a less turnover prone TA with a decent jumpshot, that'd be pretty nice.

[D.o.s.]

No way dude. You don't develop athleticism like that. It's a genetic lottery thing. We might as well hope he develops to 6'6, too.

But I'm absolutely on board with the idea that Bradley should be more aggressive on the offensive end, especially if he's going to be our starting point while Rondo is out. That might have diminishing returns on his defense, though.

Bradley is a fantastic athlete.  Probably on par with Westbrook.  The problem is his skills.  He simply doesn't have the ballhandling or the instincts that Westbrook has, and his footwork (on offense...on defense, his footwork is spectacular) is pretty terrible.  Basically, it just seems like Bradley is behind on offensive fundamentals.  He got by on athleticism in highschool, and has been playing catchup ever since.  And, it would be nearly impossible to catch up with someone like Westbrook, who is going to continue to get better himself.

With that said, I do think Bradley has potential to improve significantly on offense.  I think he could be more like a poor man's Monta Ellis on offense...but with spectacular defense.

I don't see much of the good Monta in his game--that's the off-ball slasher/drive and dish guy who was an excellent finisher around the rim and had a ridiculous first step.

The guy you see now has slowed down a bit and started settling for contested jumpers--I think the moped accident really did a lot of damage to his development--but there was as time when Ellis was playing "the right way" and really helping his teams out.

On offense, that is.

[td450]

The guy I'd recommend he look to for influence is Kevin Johnson from the 90's. He had almost the exact same build and athleticism as Avery, and a similar looking jumper, and he was a spectacular offense player.

[manl_lui]

if Bradley can score in the 15 ppg range, he will be an all star for us. Rondo/Bradley/Green looks good as our all-star trio (or new big 3).

That will make our rebuild so much faster

[hpantazo]

The guy I'd recommend he look to for influence is Kevin Johnson from the 90's. He had almost the exact same build and athleticism as Avery, and a similar looking jumper, and he was a spectacular offense player.

As a mentor, sure, KJ was a very smart and talented player , but as a comparison to Bradley, not even close. KJ was a brlliant ball handler and fascilitator , with great instincts, Bradley is the opposite. Isn't KJ a mayor somewhere now anyway ?

[hpantazo]

if Bradley can score in the 15 ppg range, he will be an all star for us. Rondo/Bradley/Green looks good as our all-star trio (or new big 3).

That will make our rebuild so much faster

It certainly will. That big three will lead us straight to a top 5 lottery pick.