Could Avery Bradley develop into a Russell Westbrook type player?

[MikeJelly]

Does anyone believe Avery bradley has the potential to be the next Russell Westbrook? Sometimes I see Avery throw down (check youtube for the dunk of the Grizz) and I feel as if he could be just like Russell. I understand Russell is more athletic but what if AB worked on his vertical? I feel if he had the aggressiveness and the emotion that Russell has he could be great. I just wish Avery played with more emotion. What do you guys think?

Here is a link to the dunk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HuRWgaIwk

LETS GO CELTICS

[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.

[LEHGOCELTICS]

Welcome, and thanks for the good laugh. [redacted]

.edit: that's not how we treat each-other. Cheers.

[fitzhickey]

Welcome, and thanks for the good laugh. [redacted]

Not sure being put down on his/her first post is a nice welcome.
Although Avery will never be Westbrook, he could improve on offense by, as MikeJelly says, being more aggressive. But Avery just doesn't have the athleticism or offensive skill set like Russ does.

BUT Avery can certainly improve on his offense, and I think he will.
Welcome to celticsblog
TP

[rickyfan3.0...]

Nope.

[moiso]

Avery has great athleticism which is no kind of limiting factor on his potential.  The biggest difference between the two is that Westbrook is a million times better dribbler and that will probably never change.  And not having to focus on dribbling allows a player to see the court and pass better.

[McHales Pits]

Welcome to CB!

Boy - I wish Bradley became a Russell Westbrook type player this offseason, but it will never happen for a few fundamental reasons. The first being the player's mentality/mindset. Westbrook came into the pros with the reputation of being a scoring guard while Bradley's rep was defense. It can be difficult to change your mentality on the court. We have seen this with Jeff Green. After going to Georgetown (pass heavy, team oriented offense) and deferring to Westbrook, Durant in OKC and Pierce, Garnett, Allen, Rondo in Boston - it has taken him a considerable amount of time to develop the instinct to be a primary option (to be honest, I still don't know if he has).

The second thing holding back could be fixed with practice, but it is critical - ball handling. Bradley isn't a strong enough ball handler to beat defenders of the dribble and get to the basket.

Lastly - as others said - Westbrook is among those from an elite, hyper athletic gene pool that others could only hope to be from. Bradley is quick, but he is no Westbrook.

To be an NBA player you must do one thing exceptionally well. The great players can do multiple things exceptionally. Bradley has made his niche as a defensive stopper, but he still has room to grow. I'd like to see him come back this season with an improved handle on the ball, improved jump shot, and improved court awareness. Hopefully working with Stevens and Rondo will help his awareness on the offensive end.

[Roy H.]

I don't think that Avery has the handle or the passing skills to even be a poor man's Westbrook.  There's no shame in that, but I don't think AB has the underlying skill set.

[slamtheking]

Does anyone believe Avery bradley has the potential to be the next Russell Westbrook? Sometimes I see Avery throw down (check youtube for the dunk of the Grizz) and I feel as if he could be just like Russell. I understand Russell is more athletic but what if AB worked on his vertical? I feel if he had the aggressiveness and the emotion that Russell has he could be great. I just wish Avery played with more emotion. What do you guys think?

there's a lot more that AB would have to improve at than just his leaping.  Westbrook pretty much does everything in the game much better than AB except D. 

I hope you have more to back up your optimism than a youtube dunk

[CFAN38]

Does anyone believe Avery bradley has the potential to be the next Russell Westbrook? Sometimes I see Avery throw down (check youtube for the dunk of the Grizz) and I feel as if he could be just like Russell. I understand Russell is more athletic but what if AB worked on his vertical? I feel if he had the aggressiveness and the emotion that Russell has he could be great. I just wish Avery played with more emotion. What do you guys think?

Here is a link to the dunk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HuRWgaIwk

LETS GO CELTICS

No, NO and NO

If he was going to be a 20+ a game scorer he would be showing it by now.

Interesting fact is that where you focus on AB needing to improve his vertical it was actually better then Westbrook's at the combine. Westbrook is just bigger, stronger, and has a scorers mentality/skill set.

AB can develop into an elite role player but not an elite scoring PG.

[CelticG1]

I definitely think bradley will be aot more like the player he was during the 20-30 game stretch than what he was this past season.

I think he had a very down season for whatever reason. Coming back from injury, missing training camp, not playing with Rondo, not playing his position etc.

People have pretty much written him off entirely offensively which is pretty abrupt to me although not surprising.

If sully has a down year this year it will be the same thing jist different comments lile he's too short to be a power forward, he's too fat, he can't shoot etc.

[TripleOT]

One thing I will say about the comparison is that Westy couldn't shoot very well when he first got into the league, and now he has one of the best pull up jumpers in the league.

AB can certainly improve his offense with hard work (and every  indication is that he's a hard worker) but he, along with most of the league, doesn't have the raw athleticism of Westbrook, who is basically Rondo with a jumper (and a lot less passing ability). 

It would be nice for AB to put it all together offensively, and make the same jump that Reggie Lewis made when the HOFers moved on. This season, we shall see if AB is going to be an effective offensive player when he's not the last option on his team.  If he can't step up, he'll just be a defensive stopper who doesn't give you a lot of offense, and not a starter type on a good team.
 

[Galeto]

I don't think that Avery has the handle or the passing skills to even be a poor man's Westbrook.  There's no shame in that, but I don't think AB has the underlying skill set.

It's not even just ballhandling or passing ability.  Westbrook has the instincts to get his shot off around the rim and finish.  The same with Rondo but in a different, less explosive, more crafty way.  Bradley is just so basic--no contortions or craftiness.  You can't attack the rim against bigs in such vanilla fashion and be successful.  I'm not sure why he can't learn some of the tricks of the trade, things like jumping off the "wrong foot" to throw off the timing off defenders or to get the ball to the rim faster, or sneaking the ball under defenders' arms like Rondo but I can't think of a player who went from basic to crafty.

[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.

[CFAN38]

I also want to add to this post that people need to remember that when AB was at his best on offense was when he filled in for Ray 2 seasons ago. At that time he was scoring off of great cuts hitting open 3s. That is going to be the core of his offense.