Report: C's unlikely to return to 4-year, $24mill deal for Bradley

[crimson_stallion]

Bradley is a volume shooter and the more shot he takes his defense becomes worse
he will regret for turning down the previous contract

No, according to an article I read somewhere (can't remember where) Coach Steven's told A/B that he did not want him to apply the same intense ball pressure that he has in the past, and wants him to instead sag off the ball more and rely more on team defense.

Don't know why he'd ask this, but apparently he also asked Sully to shoot more three's and we can all see how that went...

Tank = success.

[D.o.s.]

Nobody is getting him for the MLE.  Somebody will offer him at least $7M, and he may get as much as $8M-$10M.

Quoted for posterity (I think $8-10/year is an outrageous amount of money for Bradley).

[RRNoLookPass]

nor should they.  They never should have even offered 4 years, 24 million for a role player on a team full of role players.

Yup....that pretty much is the bottom line.

We need To dump the baggage , and sign a couple serious elite talent , THEN fill in the blanks with role players.

Ok, so lets say you "dump the baggage" so to speak.  Who exactly do you intend on starting at the SG spot in Bradley's absence, assuming we dont get Wiggins/Exum/Smart in the draft?

Take in to account the fact that Boston has Bradley's bird rights, so they can go over the cap to sign him.  That's not the case for any other free agents, which means (after all the cap holds etc) if Boston lets AB walk, they proboably won't be able to pay more than the MLE for a replacement SG.  Who in next year's free agent class do you see who we could sign for ~$5M at most, who would be more productive than Bradley?

That's not even taking into account his upside.

Answer is: nobody.

On a Per 36-minute basis Bradley is a 17 PPG (45%/40%/80%), RPG player who ranks top 10 among shooting guards in almost every statistical category (except assists) and who was an All-Defensive Team selection only one season back, and who is only 23 years old.

Nobody is getting him for the MLE.  Somebody will offer him at least $7M, and he may get as much as $8M-$10M.

The fact that he is young and a role player actually fits Boston perfectly.  Boston is in a rebuilding period and what are they looking for?  Young players with upside.  Bradley took major strides in his game last season, and if he continues to impove at that rate the next team that signs him will get a major bargain.

Think of how much Eric Gordon is being paid right now regardless of his injury history (which is just as bad a AB's).  Then consider the fact that Bradley scored just as much as Gordon last season, but did so with greater efficiency.  Then factor in that Bradley actually plays defense.  Yeah...$6M is a pipe dream.

Great post. The amount of criticism Bradley takes around here is absurd sometimes. I'd be happy to have Bradley back at $6m per yr. I've said it once, and I will say it again: Bradley will be offered $6m to $8m per yr in Free Agency... regardless of if that offer comes from the Celts or not. I do not want to see the Celts offering him $10m per yr, but I'd be perfectly content with a 4yr/$24m deal.

There just isn't any Free Agent SG's this yr whom produce like Bradley and will sign for less than $6m per yr.
And leaving a gaping hole in the roster at SG, while relying on the draft to fill it in, is a Major risk. It would be better to use the draft to fill in more important needs anyhow....Hopefully a center, since the Free Agent pickings are slim this yr. (Although, the draft isn't very deep at center this yr either, but let's keep our fingers crossed for Embiid.)

[CoachBo]

Nobody is getting him for the MLE.  Somebody will offer him at least $7M, and he may get as much as $8M-$10M.

Quoted for posterity (I think $8-10/year is an outrageous amount of money for Bradley).

So is $6 for a player of his obvious limitations, notwithstanding his unique ability to worm himself into the Rondo-style conflation of this blog.

[wahz]

I can understand not wanting to overpay him, but letting him go for nothing, like Tony, Ray, and Posey before him, wastes important assets.

[wdleehi]

nor should they.  They never should have even offered 4 years, 24 million for a role player on a team full of role players.

Yup....that pretty much is the bottom line.

We need To dump the baggage , and sign a couple serious elite talent , THEN fill in the blanks with role players.

Ok, so lets say you "dump the baggage" so to speak.  Who exactly do you intend on starting at the SG spot in Bradley's absence, assuming we dont get Wiggins/Exum/Smart in the draft?

Take in to account the fact that Boston has Bradley's bird rights, so they can go over the cap to sign him.  That's not the case for any other free agents, which means (after all the cap holds etc) if Boston lets AB walk, they proboably won't be able to pay more than the MLE for a replacement SG.  Who in next year's free agent class do you see who we could sign for ~$5M at most, who would be more productive than Bradley?

That's not even taking into account his upside.

Answer is: nobody.

On a Per 36-minute basis Bradley is a 17 PPG (45%/40%/80%), RPG player who ranks top 10 among shooting guards in almost every statistical category (except assists) and who was an All-Defensive Team selection only one season back, and who is only 23 years old.

Nobody is getting him for the MLE.  Somebody will offer him at least $7M, and he may get as much as $8M-$10M.

The fact that he is young and a role player actually fits Boston perfectly.  Boston is in a rebuilding period and what are they looking for?  Young players with upside.  Bradley took major strides in his game last season, and if he continues to impove at that rate the next team that signs him will get a major bargain.

Think of how much Eric Gordon is being paid right now regardless of his injury history (which is just as bad a AB's).  Then consider the fact that Bradley scored just as much as Gordon last season, but did so with greater efficiency.  Then factor in that Bradley actually plays defense.  Yeah...$6M is a pipe dream.

A pipe dream for him.


Teams are scared of the new tax.  They will not go anywhere near it for a role player. 

And when role players make more then the MLE, it becomes harder to trade them.  Teams do not want to be near the tax for a role player. 


Now some of the big market teams are not afraid to go over for a star or near star.  But few would be for a role player.



Players like AB are going to see their salary squeezed.  Not because they are not good players but because they are not stars (or near stars) or play a position that is hard to fill (see the C)

[Fafnir]

It was very good news for Bradley that the cap is going up so much, I still don't see him exceeded MLE. He'll probably end up below it by a decent amount.

[Kuberski33]

Great post. The amount of criticism Bradley takes around here is absurd sometimes. I'd be happy to have Bradley back at $6m per yr. I've said it once, and I will say it again: Bradley will be offered $6m to $8m per yr in Free Agency... regardless of if that offer comes from the Celts or not. I do not want to see the Celts offering him $10m per yr, but I'd be perfectly content with a 4yr/$24m deal.

There just isn't any Free Agent SG's this yr whom produce like Bradley and will sign for less than $6m per yr.
And leaving a gaping hole in the roster at SG, while relying on the draft to fill it in, is a Major risk. It would be better to use the draft to fill in more important needs anyhow....Hopefully a center, since the Free Agent pickings are slim this yr. (Although, the draft isn't very deep at center this yr either, but let's keep our fingers crossed for Embiid.)

If he goes (and I'm fine with whatever DA decides to do with him) the Celtics ceiling next season is probably 30 wins - and they're likely to be worse than that.  This is where I kind of roll my eyes a bit at the pro tank crowd.  If Bradley leaves, this team's record won't be improving any time soon.  Right now he's their 2nd best player. 

[playdream]

Great post. The amount of criticism Bradley takes around here is absurd sometimes. I'd be happy to have Bradley back at $6m per yr. I've said it once, and I will say it again: Bradley will be offered $6m to $8m per yr in Free Agency... regardless of if that offer comes from the Celts or not. I do not want to see the Celts offering him $10m per yr, but I'd be perfectly content with a 4yr/$24m deal.

There just isn't any Free Agent SG's this yr whom produce like Bradley and will sign for less than $6m per yr.
And leaving a gaping hole in the roster at SG, while relying on the draft to fill it in, is a Major risk. It would be better to use the draft to fill in more important needs anyhow....Hopefully a center, since the Free Agent pickings are slim this yr. (Although, the draft isn't very deep at center this yr either, but let's keep our fingers crossed for Embiid.)

If he goes (and I'm fine with whatever DA decides to do with him) the Celtics ceiling next season is probably 30 wins - and they're likely to be worse than that.  This is where I kind of roll my eyes a bit at the pro tank crowd.  If Bradley leaves, this team's record won't be improving any time soon.  Right now he's their 2nd best player.

You mean behind Wallace?

[action781]

I feel like a Western Conference playoff team could have a lot of interest in him.  The point guards of the west (CP3, Westbrook, Conley, Parker, Lilliard, Curry) have been absolutely lighting up the western conference in the playoffs over the past couple seasons.  Teams would absolutely love to find a way to slow them down.  AB could be that guy to some extent.

Not a lot of those teams have a positional vacancy for Bradley right now, but I'd imagine they will think about how they could get creative and use Bradley once free agency begins if he appears to be available at a reasonable price.  Could Houston play Bradley and Harden together in the backcourt since their PGs have a pretty small role in their offense anyways?  Move Lin, start Beverly (28 min), bring Bradley off the bench (20 min).

[wdleehi]

I feel like a Western Conference playoff team could have a lot of interest in him.  The point guards of the west (CP3, Westbrook, Conley, Parker, Lilliard, Curry) have been absolutely lighting up the western conference in the playoffs over the past couple seasons.  Teams would absolutely love to find a way to slow them down.  AB could be that guy to some extent.

Not a lot of those teams have a positional vacancy for Bradley right now, but I'd imagine they will think about how they could get creative and use Bradley once free agency begins if he appears to be available at a reasonable price.  Could Houston play Bradley and Harden together in the backcourt since their PGs have a pretty small role in their offense anyways?  Move Lin, start Beverly (28 min), bring Bradley off the bench (20 min).

That still falls into the "luxury" category.  It is not like a team has failed to move forward in the West just because of a PG. 


Inability to stop a big man on the other hand has played a big reason. 

[action781]

I feel like a Western Conference playoff team could have a lot of interest in him.  The point guards of the west (CP3, Westbrook, Conley, Parker, Lilliard, Curry) have been absolutely lighting up the western conference in the playoffs over the past couple seasons.  Teams would absolutely love to find a way to slow them down.  AB could be that guy to some extent.

Not a lot of those teams have a positional vacancy for Bradley right now, but I'd imagine they will think about how they could get creative and use Bradley once free agency begins if he appears to be available at a reasonable price.  Could Houston play Bradley and Harden together in the backcourt since their PGs have a pretty small role in their offense anyways?  Move Lin, start Beverly (28 min), bring Bradley off the bench (20 min).

That still falls into the "luxury" category.  It is not like a team has failed to move forward in the West just because of a PG. 


Inability to stop a big man on the other hand has played a big reason.

Definitely some truth to the "luxury" part.  I'd say inability to stop Damian Lillard and his .640 TS% was pretty significant to Houston not advancing though.  And a lot of these point guards mentioned are very young, have emerged recently, and may be around for a while. 

[Mr October]

Right now it looks like 17 teams could have significant cap space this summer. That is more than half of the NBA. We might see some silly contacts, perhaps more than usual.

Bradley is maybe the 19th best free agent on the market, and perhaps the 4th best shooting guard behind Wade, Bledsoe and Lance Stephenson. And half of those 18 free agents aren't leaving their teams.

After Bradley you are looking at Stuckey, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Nick Young, and Sefolosha. Or you start looking at border line players like Alan Anderson or Jodie Meeks.

Before we see what happens in the draft it is hard to tell who will be perusing Bradley. Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, or Utah could be good fits.

Bradley might get more action in free agency than we expect.

[wdleehi]

Right now it looks like 17 teams could have significant cap space this summer. That is more than half of the NBA. We might see some silly contacts, perhaps more than usual.

Bradley is maybe the 19th best free agent on the market, and perhaps the 4th best shooting guard behind Wade, Bledsoe and Lance Stephenson. And half of those 18 free agents aren't leaving their teams.

After Bradley you are looking at Stuckey, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Nick Young, and Sefolosha. Or you start looking at border line players like Alan Anderson or Jodie Meeks.

Before we see what happens in the draft it is hard to tell who will be perusing Bradley. Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, or Utah could be good fits.

Bradley might get more action in free agency than we expect.

 How many of those teams are looking to use up their cap room and how many are saving most of it for the future extensions of their players?

[Mr October]

Right now it looks like 17 teams could have significant cap space this summer. That is more than half of the NBA. We might see some silly contacts, perhaps more than usual.

Bradley is maybe the 19th best free agent on the market, and perhaps the 4th best shooting guard behind Wade, Bledsoe and Lance Stephenson. And half of those 18 free agents aren't leaving their teams.

After Bradley you are looking at Stuckey, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Nick Young, and Sefolosha. Or you start looking at border line players like Alan Anderson or Jodie Meeks.

Before we see what happens in the draft it is hard to tell who will be perusing Bradley. Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, or Utah could be good fits.

Bradley might get more action in free agency than we expect.

 How many of those teams are looking to use up their cap room and how many are saving most of it for the future extensions of their players?

You can probably eliminate the Knicks, Miami, and Washington if they bring back Gortat and Ariza.

With the 5 million increase on the cap, a lot of teams will have extra dough to work with. Detroit can resign Monroe and go get someone else. The same goes for Toronto with Lowry, Jazz with Hayward, Suns with Bledsoe, Cavs with Deng - although i can't imagine him staying in Cleveland.

So now that number only drops from 17 to 14 teams.