I think it is imperative to keep Bradley to D the Irvings and Curry's of the NBA

[Celtics18]

I think the painful truth is that if we want to keep Avery as our lock down defender at the point guard position and a deadly outside shooter on offense, then we need to pair him with someone else to run the show from either the two or the three position.

As much as I love them both, Avery and Isaiah aren't an ideal match.  I'm not convinced I believe in Marcus to ever be an elite primary ball handler either.

Something's gotta give this off-season. 

[Fafnir]

Given that Cleveland got by with JR Smith, Shumpert, and Irving as their backcourt I don't think its imperative.

Nice to have and an asset to a good team sure. But not imperative, more than one way to win a basketball game even with how perimeter focused it is now.

Edit: Forgot Jefferson also ended up rotating in at the wing for them and guarding Curry/Klay/etc.

[chambers]

I think what the OP is getting at is that as great as Marcus Smart is, he doesn't have the kind of quickness that Bradley has when defending guys like Curry, Irving, Lillard, et al. I love Smart but I would worry about who is going to be guarding big scoring PG's on this roster if Bradley is sent out.

But Butler is still an upgrade over Bradley, so maybe it's more important to get the better player when you can (assuming a fair deal).

Yep, I just think that if we look at this finals, we saw the Cavs defend him amazingly with Kyrie, Dellavadova, Smith, Shumpert as their backcourt. No all world defenders there, just a good job on rotations, and more importantly on switches with and James and Thompson. We saw how mobile/agile bigs that can defend him in a switch like Thompson can reduce the threat of his penetration greatness when the Warriors are trying to run the pick and roll.

One of the best things they did this series IMO, was putting Curry under enormous pressure when he was defending. They just abused him in switches and forced him to waste energy and foul trouble by defending Kyrie or Lebron and switching him in to size that could back him down or get a good shot over him.

[BlackCeltic]

I think the painful truth is that if we want to keep Avery as our lock down defender at the point guard position and a deadly outside shooter on offense, then we need to pair him with someone else to run the show from either the two or the three position.

As much as I love them both, Avery and Isaiah aren't an ideal match.  I'm not convinced I believe in Marcus to ever be an elite primary ball handler either.

Something's gotta give this off-season.

I agree, and I would choose Avery out of that group to trade without thinking twice.

[td450]

Given that Cleveland got by with JR Smith, Shumpert, and Irving as their backcourt I don't think its imperative.

Nice to have and an asset to a good team sure. But not imperative, more than one way to win a basketball game even with how perimeter focused it is now.

Edit: Forgot Jefferson also ended up rotating in at the wing for them and guarding Curry/Klay/etc.

I agree that it isn't imperative... as long as you have the ultra-athletic frontcourt players like LeBron and Tristan Thompson. We don't have anyone that fast that can rotate and defend above the rim like that.

Defensively, no one has five all- NBA defensive players. You need a couple of disruptively good players, then you need guys who are good enough to take advantage of that small extra margin of error they give to their teammates.  We get it done with Bradley, Smart and Crowder, but we don't have someone like LeBron or Thompson covering mistakes behind them.

[GreenCoffeeBean]

I think people are nuts to want to make marginal upgrades for guys like Butler. 3x the contract of a guy like Bradley and you're giving away a #3 overall pick? That's insane. We won't take significant steps by upgrading positions that are already our strong suit.

We need to get better at PF, Center, depth at SF, and another ball handler. I don't see great availability at PF/C this year in FA. We should not overspend on 30+ year old centers just for the sake of "fireworks." It's time to stay pat, draft BPA (this is a luxury that up and coming contenders get to have), develop our youth, and wait for a better crop of free agents to break the bank on.

[boscel33]

I think that Smart becomes a bigger version of Bradley and you move him to SG.  I think Bradley is one of the best assets we have due to his contract.

[dreamgreen]

You're assuming we will be competing with them in the near future, wish I was as optimistic as you are.

[Fafnir]

Given that Cleveland got by with JR Smith, Shumpert, and Irving as their backcourt I don't think its imperative.

Nice to have and an asset to a good team sure. But not imperative, more than one way to win a basketball game even with how perimeter focused it is now.

Edit: Forgot Jefferson also ended up rotating in at the wing for them and guarding Curry/Klay/etc.

I agree that it isn't imperative... as long as you have the ultra-athletic frontcourt players like LeBron and Tristan Thompson. We don't have anyone that fast that can rotate and defend above the rim like that.

Defensively, no one has five all- NBA defensive players. You need a couple of disruptively good players, then you need guys who are good enough to take advantage of that small extra margin of error they give to their teammates.  We get it done with Bradley, Smart and Crowder, but we don't have someone like LeBron or Thompson covering mistakes behind them.

Right you need a bunch of elite athletes to win in the NBA, not a shock.

Bradley is pretty great on D, but not so great that he's something you don't move. Certainly you need to keep a certain threshold of athleticism, otherwise you become the Mavericks and just get blown off the court by the great teams in the end.

[footey]

No one can guard Kyrie Irving. He has got to be the quickest guy with the ball in the NBA. Just incredible.  For all the bashing he took, he was instrumental in Cleveland winning. Lebron played great, but shot poorly, and seemed to be running out of gas towards the end (save for that incredible block).

[Ilikesports17]

No one can guard Kyrie Irving. He has got to be the quickest guy with the ball in the NBA. Just incredible.  For all the bashing he took, he was instrumental in Cleveland winning. Lebron played great, but shot poorly, and seemed to be running out of gas towards the end (save for that incredible block).

Kyrie was the biggest shock for me this series. I did not expect him to do half this well. He scored nearly all the big buckets for the Cavs these last 3 games.

[Csfan1984]

As others have said it's really all about if your front court can keep up with the rotations. Warriors could not and they lost Cavs could and they won. C's had Turner*, Crowder, Sully*,JJ, AJ, KO, Zeller* not exactly a physically gifted group that can switch on guys or block shots. The front court needs upgrades this draft/off season

[mctyson]

He is a first-team all-nba Defender. He has a consistent 3-point shot. He is a great team player. if we plan on winning a title in the next three years, Bradley could be a big part of that. He is probably the best defender in the league point guards

There is a direct connection between Avery Bradley and the Celtics almost beating GSW twice.

[mctyson]

I think what the OP is getting at is that as great as Marcus Smart is, he doesn't have the kind of quickness that Bradley has when defending guys like Curry, Irving, Lillard, et al. I love Smart but I would worry about who is going to be guarding big scoring PG's on this roster if Bradley is sent out.

But Butler is still an upgrade over Bradley, so maybe it's more important to get the better player when you can (assuming a fair deal).

Yes.  But Smart is an excellent defender of those guards AND HE CAN DEFEND 7-FOOTERS.

[Beat LA]

Given that Cleveland got by with JR Smith, Shumpert, and Irving as their backcourt I don't think its imperative.

Nice to have and an asset to a good team sure. But not imperative, more than one way to win a basketball game even with how perimeter focused it is now.

Edit: Forgot Jefferson also ended up rotating in at the wing for them and guarding Curry/Klay/etc.

I agree that it isn't imperative... as long as you have the ultra-athletic frontcourt players like LeBron and Tristan Thompson. We don't have anyone that fast that can rotate and defend above the rim like that.

Defensively, no one has five all- NBA defensive players. You need a couple of disruptively good players, then you need guys who are good enough to take advantage of that small extra margin of error they give to their teammates.  We get it done with Bradley, Smart and Crowder, but we don't have someone like LeBron or Thompson covering mistakes behind them.

Right you need a bunch of elite athletes to win in the NBA, not a shock.

Bradley is pretty great on D, but not so great that he's something you don't move. Certainly you need to keep a certain threshold of athleticism, otherwise you become the Mavericks and just get blown off the court by the great teams in the end.

No, you need a collection of elite players to win a title.  If they're also elite athletes, great, but I wouldn't say that having a team of elite athletes is what gets it done, alone.  Just look at last night's game - Festus Ezeli is an elite athlete, but that doesn't make him a good player.