Avery Bradley & Celtics Agree to 4-year, $32 million contract

[BballTim]

They could put incentives in his contract or do other things to make it unpalatable for the Celtics.

Or they can just give him more money than the Celtics would match. That's not the point. The point is, how likely is it to happen.

  I'd say much more likely than Danny just throwing a bunch of money at Bradley (who's a RFA) if he has no idea at all what Avery would get on the market. FWIW we've been hearing of nba types saying Bradley would command a salary in this range fairly consistently for quite a while.

[2short]

My brother owes me $100 if bradley plays under 72 games and i owe him if he plays in 72+.


Whos winning this bet?

might not be so easy…if we have a three guard rotation of rondo, smart and bradley then there is a better chance that avery won't be hurt
of course he might have to ice his elbow if he shoots so frequently like last season! 

[Jonny CC]

My brother owes me $100 if bradley plays under 72 games and i owe him if he plays in 72+.


Whos winning this bet?

might not be so easy…if we have a three guard rotation of rondo, smart and bradley then there is a better chance that avery won't be hurt
of course he might have to ice his elbow if he shoots so frequently like last season! 

Congrats to you.  Tell your brother to start saving his pennies.

[MBunge]

They could put incentives in his contract or do other things to make it unpalatable for the Celtics.

Or they can just give him more money than the Celtics would match. That's not the point. The point is, how likely is it to happen.

Well, the Thunder just lost Sefalosha.  If they offered Avery the MLE, Boston could match it.  Of course, Avery might be just a wee bit peeved about getting relatively little money and being denied a chance to go to a likely title contender.

Mike

[Celtics18]

My brother owes me $100 if bradley plays under 72 games and i owe him if he plays in 72+.


Whos winning this bet?

I'm rooting for your brother. 

[BigAlTheFuture]

My brother owes me $100 if bradley plays under 72 games and i owe him if he plays in 72+.


Whos winning this bet?

I'm rooting for your brother.

You want Bradley to play under 72 games?

[Celtics18]

My brother owes me $100 if bradley plays under 72 games and i owe him if he plays in 72+.


Whos winning this bet?

I'm rooting for your brother.

You want Bradley to play under 72 games?

No.  I want him to play 72+ games. 

CelticG1 wins the bet if Bradley plays less than 72 games.  So, I'm rooting for CelticG2.

[BigAlTheFuture]

My brother owes me $100 if bradley plays under 72 games and i owe him if he plays in 72+.


Whos winning this bet?

I'm rooting for your brother.

You want Bradley to play under 72 games?

No.  I want him to play 72+ games. 

CelticG1 wins the bet if Bradley plays less than 72 games.  So, I'm rooting for CelticG2.

Oops. I misread. Sorry

[Galeto]

Just like with Mark Blount and Jeff Green and now with Bradley, Ainge sure likes to overpay his own free agents.

I'm floored that Bradley got 8 million.  He's a jumpshooting defensive role player with huge holes in his game and without the size to guard all three perimeter positions.  He doesn't impact the game more than Tony Allen or Danny Green and he's going to make double what they make.  Oh yeah, he's also never been durable.

8 million dollars for a player who has never had a WS/48 over 1, whose defense is so impactful that his defensive rating of 109 finished above the team's 107.7 and tied with illustrious defenders like Jerryd Bayless?  Are those things too much to ask for from a player who's going to be in the above-average salary bracket?  Bradley is a MLE player whose lack of handle and finishing ability around the rim keeps him from being more than that. 

In truth, I was hoping they'd move on from him and try to find more complete perimeter players.  If Ainge wanted to commit to an undersized guard, I wished he'd done that with someone like Gary Harris whose has a much more complete game than Bradley.

[kozlodoev]

They could put incentives in his contract or do other things to make it unpalatable for the Celtics.

Or they can just give him more money than the Celtics would match. That's not the point. The point is, how likely is it to happen.

Well, the Thunder just lost Sefalosha.  If they offered Avery the MLE, Boston could match it.  Of course, Avery might be just a wee bit peeved about getting relatively little money and being denied a chance to go to a likely title contender.

Bradley is free to not sign offer sheets that get him "a wee bit peeved". This is just ridiculous.

[Galeto]

My initial reaction this morning was ****.

The more I thought about it though, the more it didn't seem like a total mistake. Ainge is paying for future value, not past accomplishments. Bradley is just 23 and has improved almost every year since he's been in the league. This deal will take him into his prime years. Based on his trajectory, he still has some room for improvement. He might be overpaid in year 1 and maybe year 2 of the deal, but it's not out of the realm of possibilities that he's worth his deal by year 3 and maybe underpaid by year 4.  He's already made the 2nd team All NBA Defensive team and shot the 3 pointer at almost 40% last year. Those are pretty solid numbers. And based on what other players like Meeks got in FA, this deal doesnt look as bad. Stephenson will get north of 10 mil+ imo. So maybe it wise wise of Ainge to lock Bradley up before that deal goes through.

And, he's one of our guys. It seems foolish to just not pay someone you drafted and invested 4 years in training/developing to see the player actually make strides and improve every season. It sends a good message to the rest of the team. Work hard, improve, do as your told, and they'll take care of you. I'd rather overpay someone who gets what it means to be a Celtic than some street FA just chasing a payday.

What parts of his game has improved?  His handle is still crap.  So is his ability to finish around the rim.  So is his passing.  Those are three big areas of a guard's game.  Even at 23, this is probably who he is.  Some guys just can't handle the ball or have the instincts to finish around the rim or pass.  If they all could, this league would be loaded with superstars.  Bradley has never provided 8 million dollars of value.  If Ainge is going to pay for future performance, at least do it for players who have the skills to take a leap in their game. Bradley is a role player through and through. 

[DarkAzcura]

My initial reaction this morning was ****.

The more I thought about it though, the more it didn't seem like a total mistake. Ainge is paying for future value, not past accomplishments. Bradley is just 23 and has improved almost every year since he's been in the league. This deal will take him into his prime years. Based on his trajectory, he still has some room for improvement. He might be overpaid in year 1 and maybe year 2 of the deal, but it's not out of the realm of possibilities that he's worth his deal by year 3 and maybe underpaid by year 4.  He's already made the 2nd team All NBA Defensive team and shot the 3 pointer at almost 40% last year. Those are pretty solid numbers. And based on what other players like Meeks got in FA, this deal doesnt look as bad. Stephenson will get north of 10 mil+ imo. So maybe it wise wise of Ainge to lock Bradley up before that deal goes through.

And, he's one of our guys. It seems foolish to just not pay someone you drafted and invested 4 years in training/developing to see the player actually make strides and improve every season. It sends a good message to the rest of the team. Work hard, improve, do as your told, and they'll take care of you. I'd rather overpay someone who gets what it means to be a Celtic than some street FA just chasing a payday.

What parts of his game has improved?  His handle is still crap.  So is his ability to finish around the rim.  So is his passing.  Those are three big areas of a guard's game.  Even at 23, this is probably who he is.  Some guys just can't handle the ball or have the instincts to finish around the rim or pass.  If they all could, this league would be loaded with superstars.  Bradley has never provided 8 million dollars of value.  If Ainge is going to pay for future performance, at least do it for players who have the skills to take a leap in their game. Bradley is a role player through and through.

Um, his jumpshot? His FG% at the rim increased by 10% this year to 60%. His first two seasons he hit 66% of his shots around the rim. 2012-2013 was just a down year (49% at the rim) so let's not pretend that has been common with him.

You're right about his handling. He probably is who he is there, but you really ignored a huge aspect of the game. My issues with Bradley is his ability to draw fouls. He can't do it. He'd be so good if he could draw fouls, and I feel like that is a big focus for him this summer. We'll see if he can pull it off, but if he doesn't see some kind of increase in his FTr next season, I'll have to write that one off too (along with his handling and passing).

[vjcsmoke]

I think we overpaid.  But the market forced us to overpay.  At least we get to see Avery in Green for 3-4 more years.  I just hope he can stay healthy for the remainder of his contract.  If he can do that, then I'm not worried.

A Rondo, Smart, Bradley backcourt is going to give opposing guards nightmares.  Pressey is most likely player to lose minutes because of the Celtics recent moves.  I think it is also safe to say bye-bye to Bayless.  I'd still like to see Bazemore join our group of guards but how much $$ do we have left to spend now?

[Galeto]

I think we overpaid.  But the market forced us to overpay.  At least we get to see Avery in Green for 3-4 more years.  I just hope he can stay healthy for the remainder of his contract.  If he can do that, then I'm not worried.

A Rondo, Smart, Bradley backcourt is going to give opposing guards nightmares.  Pressey is most likely player to lose minutes because of the Celtics recent moves.  I think it is also safe to say bye-bye to Bayless.  I'd still like to see Bazemore join our group of guards but how much $$ do we have left to spend now?

How did the market forced the Celtics to overpay?  He hadn't gotten any offer sheets and his deal is one of the most lucrative thus far.  If anything, his deal is going to force other teams to overpay for role players, not that that's going to happen.

Thinking about it more, this deal makes me more upset that Ainge passed on Gary Harris.  One of the reasons he stated for taking Young over Harris was because of the glut of 6'3 guards on the roster.  Well, if they're going to play two 6'3 guards together in Smart and Bradley, Harris would've been a much, much better option.  In addition to being a very fine defender (or projected one anyway) in his own right, he's a much better ballhandler, passer and finisher.  What you get with Bradley is dogged defense, pull up jumpers and spot up threes.  That's about it.  Harris can do so much more at the same freaking size and yeah, he'd be much, much cheaper.

[celticslove]

I think we overpaid.  But the market forced us to overpay.  At least we get to see Avery in Green for 3-4 more years.  I just hope he can stay healthy for the remainder of his contract.  If he can do that, then I'm not worried.

A Rondo, Smart, Bradley backcourt is going to give opposing guards nightmares.  Pressey is most likely player to lose minutes because of the Celtics recent moves.  I think it is also safe to say bye-bye to Bayless.  I'd still like to see Bazemore join our group of guards but how much $$ do we have left to spend now?

How did the market forced the Celtics to overpay?  He hadn't gotten any offer sheets and his deal is one of the most lucrative thus far.  If anything, his deal is going to force other teams to overpay for role players, not that that's going to happen.

Thinking about it more, this deal makes me more upset that Ainge passed on Gary Harris.  One of the reasons he stated for taking Young over Harris was because of the glut of 6'3 guards on the roster.  Well, if they're going to play two 6'3 guards together in Smart and Bradley, Harris would've been a much, much better option.  In addition to being a very fine defender (or projected one anyway) in his own right, he's a much better ballhandler, passer and finisher.  What you get with Bradley is dogged defense, pull up jumpers and spot up threes.  That's about it.  Harris can do so much more at the same freaking size and yeah, he'd be much, much cheaper.

this.haha people will point out the jodie meeks deal but i didn't see any offer for AB. the only rumored one is the philly interest. can't wait for the official statement from danny regarding this.