Bradley

[PaulAllen]

Imagine he he can turn the corner this year...

Its early .. I know.. but wow he is playing with a chip on his shoulder..
but 67% from three and 9 boards a game it really puts less pressure on DA to make that blockbuster. Now dont get me wrong they still need another big to eliminate offensive putbacks but just imagine this team as is and able to draft a guy like Giles or Jackson. Not to mention money saved for a Bradley extension...

and to prove a point his numbers (ppg,fg%,3fg%,) all have steadily increasing through out the past 3 years while taking more shots...Gets to the line and shoots around 80%.... Maybe he is "Our Guy" after all?

[otherdave]

You outline one possible scenario (one that I like).  It is the scenario with the least possible resistance (not dependent on outside cooperation).  Players continue to grow and develop, DA keeps his ear to the ground and takes all phone calls, and if no deal emerges - continue to keep our draft picks.  Everybody strives to get a little better than they were the day before (just like in real life!) 

[Big333223]

I never thought I'd feel so confident when Avery Bradley is dribbling the ball. He obviously can't maintain the pace he's in terms of shooting percentages but he looks much more confident with the ball. I'm really impressed with how far he's come, after already improving so much.

A nice role model for Smart and Brown, too.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

people, we don't need 50 threads. ab is my guy but i wish ppl would hop off b/c you're gonna jinx it lol. i liked it better when it was a few people and me on his side.

[bopna]

Now that he is jinxed..he will probably be a dud the next game..10 points 3reb and 2 assist.   Hehehe

[Granath]

Imagine he he can turn the corner this year...

... Maybe he is "Our Guy" after all?

"Turn the corner"? Excuse me? What corner did he need to turn? The guy was a 1st team all-NBA defense with 15ppg and 36% behind the arc. What about that isn't already impressive? If he wasn't already someone's "Our Guy", then there's something wrong with that person. Bradley has been nothing but the consummate Celtic the last few years - in good times and in bad - and he's done it with little fanfare, no complaining and just a great lunch pail attitude. He's worked hard every year and every year has shown improvement. Even if he never makes a NBA All Star team (and I don't expect him to) he's still been a pro's pro and deserving of more respect than your post shows.

[PaulAllen]

Imagine he he can turn the corner this year...

... Maybe he is "Our Guy" after all?

"Turn the corner"? Excuse me? What corner did he need to turn? The guy was a 1st team all-NBA defense with 15ppg and 36% behind the arc. What about that isn't already impressive? If he wasn't already someone's "Our Guy", then there's something wrong with that person. Bradley has been nothing but the consummate Celtic the last few years - in good times and in bad - and he's done it with little fanfare, no complaining and just a great lunch pail attitude. He's worked hard every year and every year has shown improvement. Even if he never makes a NBA All Star team (and I don't expect him to) he's still been a pro's pro and deserving of more respect than your post shows.

Turn the corner means turning into one of the elite players in the league...duh

[Granath]

Imagine he he can turn the corner this year...

... Maybe he is "Our Guy" after all?

"Turn the corner"? Excuse me? What corner did he need to turn? The guy was a 1st team all-NBA defense with 15ppg and 36% behind the arc. What about that isn't already impressive? If he wasn't already someone's "Our Guy", then there's something wrong with that person. Bradley has been nothing but the consummate Celtic the last few years - in good times and in bad - and he's done it with little fanfare, no complaining and just a great lunch pail attitude. He's worked hard every year and every year has shown improvement. Even if he never makes a NBA All Star team (and I don't expect him to) he's still been a pro's pro and deserving of more respect than your post shows.

Turn the corner means turning into one of the elite players in the league...duh

That's not the correct phrase. Duh.

"Turn the corner" means to pass a critical point in the process to a point of improvement from a period of sub-par performance. When the GDP goes from 4% to 6%, people don't say the economy has turned the corner. The economy turns the corner when it's coming out of a recession. When a patient turns the corner, they're not up and running 4 minute miles. That means the prognosis for the health of the patient has dramatically improved and that they are likely on the road to recovery.

As a 15ppg scorer and an elite defender, Bradley already is one of the better guys at his position. Thus Bradley won't "turn the corner" if he develops into an elite player (and he already is defensively an elite player) on offense. He'll "make the jump" (that's the phrase you're looking for) to improve his game to the point that offensively he's a forced to be reckoned with.

That's not necessarily a reasonable expectation. If he doesn't improve at all, he's still one of the better SGs in the league on an exceptionally reasonable contract and fine by me. If he makes the jump to scoring 20 ppg - which to me would make him one of the best 20 players in the league - then all the better. Either way, he's "our guy" and I'm [dang] happy to have him on this team.

[PaulAllen]

Imagine he he can turn the corner this year...

... Maybe he is "Our Guy" after all?

"Turn the corner"? Excuse me? What corner did he need to turn? The guy was a 1st team all-NBA defense with 15ppg and 36% behind the arc. What about that isn't already impressive? If he wasn't already someone's "Our Guy", then there's something wrong with that person. Bradley has been nothing but the consummate Celtic the last few years - in good times and in bad - and he's done it with little fanfare, no complaining and just a great lunch pail attitude. He's worked hard every year and every year has shown improvement. Even if he never makes a NBA All Star team (and I don't expect him to) he's still been a pro's pro and deserving of more respect than your post shows.

Turn the corner means turning into one of the elite players in the league...duh

That's not the correct phrase. Duh.

"Turn the corner" means to pass a critical point in the process to a point of improvement from a period of sub-par performance. When the GDP goes from 4% to 6%, people don't say the economy has turned the corner. The economy turns the corner when it's coming out of a recession. When a patient turns the corner, they're not up and running 4 minute miles. That means the prognosis for the health of the patient has dramatically improved and that they are likely on the road to recovery.

As a 15ppg scorer and an elite defender, Bradley already is one of the better guys at his position. Thus Bradley won't "turn the corner" if he develops into an elite player (and he already is defensively an elite player) on offense. He'll "make the jump" (that's the phrase you're looking for) to improve his game to the point that offensively he's a forced to be reckoned with.

That's not necessarily a reasonable expectation. If he doesn't improve at all, he's still one of the better SGs in the league on an exceptionally reasonable contract and fine by me. If he makes the jump to scoring 20 ppg - which to me would make him one of the best 20 players in the league - then all the better. Either way, he's "our guy" and I'm [dang] happy to have him on this team.

once again you are missing the point of the post which is if he can continue to play at THIS level the assets can be further held instead of overpaying for a Butler or a Griffin (hypothetically).

[Granath]

Imagine he he can turn the corner this year...

... Maybe he is "Our Guy" after all?

"Turn the corner"? Excuse me? What corner did he need to turn? The guy was a 1st team all-NBA defense with 15ppg and 36% behind the arc. What about that isn't already impressive? If he wasn't already someone's "Our Guy", then there's something wrong with that person. Bradley has been nothing but the consummate Celtic the last few years - in good times and in bad - and he's done it with little fanfare, no complaining and just a great lunch pail attitude. He's worked hard every year and every year has shown improvement. Even if he never makes a NBA All Star team (and I don't expect him to) he's still been a pro's pro and deserving of more respect than your post shows.

Turn the corner means turning into one of the elite players in the league...duh

That's not the correct phrase. Duh.

"Turn the corner" means to pass a critical point in the process to a point of improvement from a period of sub-par performance. When the GDP goes from 4% to 6%, people don't say the economy has turned the corner. The economy turns the corner when it's coming out of a recession. When a patient turns the corner, they're not up and running 4 minute miles. That means the prognosis for the health of the patient has dramatically improved and that they are likely on the road to recovery.

As a 15ppg scorer and an elite defender, Bradley already is one of the better guys at his position. Thus Bradley won't "turn the corner" if he develops into an elite player (and he already is defensively an elite player) on offense. He'll "make the jump" (that's the phrase you're looking for) to improve his game to the point that offensively he's a forced to be reckoned with.

That's not necessarily a reasonable expectation. If he doesn't improve at all, he's still one of the better SGs in the league on an exceptionally reasonable contract and fine by me. If he makes the jump to scoring 20 ppg - which to me would make him one of the best 20 players in the league - then all the better. Either way, he's "our guy" and I'm [dang] happy to have him on this team.

once again you are missing the point of the post which is if he can continue to play at THIS level the assets can be further held instead of overpaying for a Butler or a Griffin (hypothetically).

Actually, I'm not missing that point. I made it specifically this summer while many were clamoring for Butler. I specifically stated (http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=85375.msg2110001#msg2110001 and http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=85239.msg2106365#msg2106365) that Butler wasn't such a massive upgrade over Bradley - at least not enough to justify the other assets that people wanted to send their way to acquire Jimmy B.

Now I don't expect Bradley to have a better year than Butler. That's too much to ask. But I've always been about not overpaying for a star when that "star" isn't actually that much better than the guy we already have in that spot. Bradley is Example #1 of this. He's been wildly undervalued by many people here simply because he's not flashy and he's not a huge scorer. But he's a perfect compliment to IT with his defense and ability to create space on offense with his 3 point shot. It doesn't make him irreplaceable but it does make him very valuable even at his prior level.

If he's suddenly a superstar, then we already have our Big 3 and we don't need to trade our assets. But I don't think he is and I don't think it's reasonable to expect that he should be. At the same time, even if he's not a superstar he's still an important part of this team. Even if his scoring doesn't go up this year, if (note the IF) he averages 4 boards and 4 assists per game this year I think it could be reasonably argued that perhaps he's the best player on the team.

[ThaPreacher]

Imagine he he can turn the corner this year...

... Maybe he is "Our Guy" after all?

"Turn the corner"? Excuse me? What corner did he need to turn? The guy was a 1st team all-NBA defense with 15ppg and 36% behind the arc. What about that isn't already impressive? If he wasn't already someone's "Our Guy", then there's something wrong with that person. Bradley has been nothing but the consummate Celtic the last few years - in good times and in bad - and he's done it with little fanfare, no complaining and just a great lunch pail attitude. He's worked hard every year and every year has shown improvement. Even if he never makes a NBA All Star team (and I don't expect him to) he's still been a pro's pro and deserving of more respect than your post shows.

Turn the corner means turning into one of the elite players in the league...duh

That's not the correct phrase. Duh.

"Turn the corner" means to pass a critical point in the process to a point of improvement from a period of sub-par performance. When the GDP goes from 4% to 6%, people don't say the economy has turned the corner. The economy turns the corner when it's coming out of a recession. When a patient turns the corner, they're not up and running 4 minute miles. That means the prognosis for the health of the patient has dramatically improved and that they are likely on the road to recovery.

As a 15ppg scorer and an elite defender, Bradley already is one of the better guys at his position. Thus Bradley won't "turn the corner" if he develops into an elite player (and he already is defensively an elite player) on offense. He'll "make the jump" (that's the phrase you're looking for) to improve his game to the point that offensively he's a forced to be reckoned with.

That's not necessarily a reasonable expectation. If he doesn't improve at all, he's still one of the better SGs in the league on an exceptionally reasonable contract and fine by me. If he makes the jump to scoring 20 ppg - which to me would make him one of the best 20 players in the league - then all the better. Either way, he's "our guy" and I'm [dang] happy to have him on this team.

once again you are missing the point of the post which is if he can continue to play at THIS level the assets can be further held instead of overpaying for a Butler or a Griffin (hypothetically).

Actually, I'm not missing that point. I made it specifically this summer while many were clamoring for Butler. I specifically stated (http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=85375.msg2110001#msg2110001 and http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=85239.msg2106365#msg2106365) that Butler wasn't such a massive upgrade over Bradley - at least not enough to justify the other assets that people wanted to send their way to acquire Jimmy B.

Now I don't expect Bradley to have a better year than Butler. That's too much to ask. But I've always been about not overpaying for a star when that "star" isn't actually that much better than the guy we already have in that spot. Bradley is Example #1 of this. He's been wildly undervalued by many people here simply because he's not flashy and he's not a huge scorer. But he's a perfect compliment to IT with his defense and ability to create space on offense with his 3 point shot. It doesn't make him irreplaceable but it does make him very valuable even at his prior level.

If he's suddenly a superstar, then we already have our Big 3 and we don't need to trade our assets. But I don't think he is and I don't think it's reasonable to expect that he should be. At the same time, even if he's not a superstar he's still an important part of this team. Even if his scoring doesn't go up this year, if (note the IF) he averages 4 boards and 4 assists per game this year I think it could be reasonably argued that perhaps he's the best player on the team.

TP! This is a good post.  You have made a good case.
Bradley is doing alot of the little things that don't get talked about.  He boxes out. He follows a play through when other people give up on it.  He moves to the right spots on help defense.
He's off to a great start.  Certainly, he's making a case for not being that asset that we part with, if we make a big trade.  In the past he was a 3 and D guy with intangibles.  He's now an all round player, with tangibles and intangibles.

[spikelovetheCelts]

Glad to see I have a chance for him to make the all star team. You guys thought I was crazy he was the no.2 recruit in the country but what do i know. MORE than most of you. Go Avery you them man!!! 

[GratefulCs]

Dumars?

[droopdog7]

I remember how much people hated his resigning.  That is a distant memory now.