Avery Bradley would be an ideal fit for the 76'ers

[Smartacus]

Simmons - Embiid should be one of the top pairings in the Eastern Conference for years to come. How Philly chooses to  build around the immense talent at the top of their roster will largely determine how far they will go in the playoffs.

Having your primary ballhandling duties primarily coming from the 4 and the 5 means that you can get creative with other positions. If I'm Brett Brown and I am looking at turning the keys over to 2 mercurial, unorthodox young talents, I want to fill out the rest of the roster with players that can cover their deficiencies and attack the holes that the 2 big mismatches create.

Enter Avery Bradley. Could there possibly be a better back court mate than AB? 1st team All defense. Considered of of the best 1 on 1 point guard defenders in the league. Improved 3 point shooter on decent volume and can provide secondary playmaking. Proven playoff performer and great example of work ethic to the rest of your young locker room.

Bradley would make an excellent pairing playing off Simmons and could help calm things down when the offense starts running off the tracks. The 76'ers should be thinking of any way that to pry Bradley from DA's hands. Best one I can come up with is this.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=z72xeth
Boston sends Avery Bradley 
Philly sends Nerlens Noel & Dario Saric
(Insert picks as needed)

I know Noel has been discussed to death around here but I think the thing that separates this idea would be Dario Saric. Noel of course is the heir apparent to Amir Johnson's spot but Saric could be interesting. Trading Bradley opens up Jaylen to join the starting lineup but leaves a gaping hole at the back up wing position.

Dario Saric has the type of aggressive mindset and versatile game to change the look of the offense once the starters go out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBmBEPFkV_g

Just about the only team in the league that doesn't have need for a 6 foot 8 player maker is the 76'ers. Saric is not an off ball player and his game will clash with Ben Simmons but IMO would be a strong fit for our bench unit. Bradley meanwhile is currently part of a 5 man combo guard rotation that's likely going to be seeing one more if we take Fultz, Ball, or Smith Jr in the draft.

I think this deal makes both teams better, what do you think?

[jpotter33]

It definitely makes sense, because Bradley is pretty much a good fit on any team with his unique 3 and D skills. But he'd be an especially good fit in Philly's situation.

However, I'm not sure that I give up on him that easily. If we luck out and get Fultz, AB would be a really, really ideal long-term fit between Fultz and Brown, and he's young enough that he can effectively wait that long. Honestly, I'd really like to see AB as a Celtic his entire career.

A Fultz/Bradley backcourt has the potential to be like Lillard and McCollum, only equally as effective on the defensive side of the ball, too. You also have to remember that AB is the best on-ball defender/ball hawk in the league, and with Philly being in our division, that could eventually pose some problems for us if we're a guard/perimeter-oriented team.

But, yeah, other than those considerations I do think that's a really good deal that would benefit both sides a lot. I'm still not sure if I would pull it off before the deadline (depending upon how it goes until then and if Brown continues to thrive in the starting lineup), but it is definitely a smart trade. TP!

[jpotter33]

Honestly, I'm also really intrigued by Malik Monk, who I think would also be a dynamic fit between Fultz and Brown long-term.

If the Philly pick lands around 7 or so like expected and Monk is still there (and they don't get the LA pick), I would do a trade going down built around the swap of AB for that pick, which we'd use to select Monk. Think of that future perimeter of Fultz, Monk, and Brown, along with a big from the 2018 draft!

The Colangelos have said quite a bit that they want more vets with their young guys, and I think they'd prefer someone like AB to Monk at this stage, especially because I still don't see them attracting any significant free agent interest this summer from vets.

[Smartacus]

It definitely makes sense, because Bradley is pretty much a good fit on any team with his unique 3 and D skills. But he'd be an especially good fit in Philly's situation.

However, I'm not sure that I give up on him that easily. If we luck out and get Fultz, AB would be a really, really ideal long-term fit between Fultz and Brown, and he's young enough that he can effectively wait that long. Honestly, I'd really like to see AB as a Celtic his entire career.

A Fultz/Bradley backcourt has the potential to be like Lillard and McCollum, only equally as effective on the defensive side of the ball, too. You also have to remember that AB is the best on-ball defender/ball hawk in the league, and with Philly being in our division, that could eventually pose some problems for us if we're a guard/perimeter-oriented team.

But, yeah, other than those considerations I do think that's a really good deal that would benefit both sides a lot. I'm still not sure if I would pull it off before the deadline (depending upon how it goes until then and if Brown continues to thrive in the starting lineup), but it is definitely a smart trade. TP!

Fultz/Bradley is a much better fit than Fultz/Isaiah, no question that'd be fun to watch. This idea wouldn't be trading Bradley just to dump him, he'd go down as an all time Celtic great if he retired in Boston. It's really a recognition that Bradley could be worth more to Philly than he is us and Philly is possibly the most asset rich team in the league.

It'd be with a heavy heart to trade Bradley but I was a big Saric guy the year he was drafted and remember back door rumors that he would've come over immediately from Europe if the Celtics picked him that year. Wouldn't have taken him over Smart of course but always wondered what it could have looked like.

TP back at ya jpotter33 for the well thought out response. So many incredible opportunities with this situation that DA has put us into. A team this close almost never has this many options.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

He is a better fit on the  Celtics

[Csfan1984]

AB deserves better.

[Surferdad]

Nice work Smartacus.  What occurs to me is that if AB is such a great fit in Philly, maybe the C's don't want to enable Philly to be so much better while also fixing their logjam in the front court. I kind of like the idea that Philly is in a tough spot.

[Sketch5]

He is a better fit on the  Celtics

Except if we want to get better and bring in an other legit star or Big, AB or Crowder will most likely have to go. And while it's a VERY small sample size, Brown has played well in between IT and Crowder. And having Brown on the floor means you can slide him over and sit Crowder and bring Smart in at the two instead of having Smart play the 3 with IT and AB.

I like AB, but I'm going to be a realist, and if he gets us a Cousins type player, or close to it, you pull that trigger.

That being said, not sure I'd want AB on a team we have to compete against in the playoffs. Not right off the bat. And I'm not sure if Noel and Saric are great returns, or if Philly would even give up Saric right now. IF we trade AB it really should be for some one that will make a difference in the playoffs.

[Celtics4ever]

Trading inside your conference used to be thought of as a universally bad idea.

[Csfan1984]

Why not Wolves, 76ers, C's

Wolves get AB and Ily
76ers get Dunn and Rubio
C's get Noel and 1st round pick from Wolves top 3 protected.

Wolves=LaVine, AB, Wiggins, Ily, Towns
76ers=Dunn, 2017 1st, Simmons, Saric, Embid
C's=IT, Brown, Crowder, Horford, Noel

Wolves get their vets they want. C's get Noel and a 1st. 76ers get the guard they wanted at the draft and an experienced PG to lead them till he is ready now.

[Smartacus]

I hear you all about trading within division. AB would  be a constant thorn in the side of this team and could help rise them to our level. No doubt he should be the best player in the deal by leaps and bounds for the foreseeable future.

But what if shoring up those 2 spots and committing to Jaylen in the starting line up is what propels us forward? Saric is young but he's got so much international team experience he might have a faster learning curve to our roster.

Isn't it possible that Noel comes back to bite Philly? Maybe Saric hits a key dagger in Ben Simmons face in game 5 of the playoffs? Trading within the division is a 2 way street.our players would be just as capable.

Danny always tries to trade our guys to good situations. Trading Bradley to Philly could be viewed as a favor in the eyes of his agent. [Heck] we traded KG and Pierce within the division. Don't think the trading within the division should be what stop's us.

[LarBrd33]

Bradley is an ideal fit for most teams.  He's 1st team all-defense and has been a borderline all-star this season offensively.  Very efficient shooter.  Probably my favorite player on the Celtics right now.

This trade makes sense though.  I think Philly would do it, though I think saric might have a brighter future than a lot of people here give him credit for.  He's on a par with Marcus smart as a prospect at this point.  Maybe a little better, because he could still reasonably improve and smart has had 2 and a half disappointing seasons. 

It makes sense for Boston big picture for a few reasons. #1 - We are desperate for rim protection so noel fits that immediate need.  #2 - We more than likely are ending up with a guard in this draft who should immediately be our best prospect by far.  He will need minutes.  A guard will need to go or we will be looking at a Phillyesque log jam.  My preference is moving smart, but it's doubtful anyone wants him.   #3 - losing Bradley's salary counters the Noel cap hold which I think is 8 or 11 mil (too lazy to look it up), but if what I remember of the math this would allow us to still target a max contract player like Hayward this offseason before extending Noel.  On that note, you might need to let Olynyk walk to have max cap room - so Dario saric could presumably fill his role next season.

I don't think it will happen, but it's a rare trade idea that makes some sense.  There will be fans from both sides that hate this idea... which is usually a sign it is reasonably close value.   I'd really dislike giving up Bradley but big picture it would be a logical move.

[Tr1boy]

The 76ers can just draft Monk

[chilidawg]

Trading inside your conference used to be thought of as a universally bad idea.

Too bad we traded Pierce and Garnett to our division rivals.  That really came back to haunt us.

[hpantazo]

The 76ers can just draft Monk

Yeah, if standings and ping pong balls go well for them, they can draft both Ball and Monk.