The Avery Bradley Trade Ruined The Start Of My Vacation Trip (Ugh)

[Phantom255x]

Right before me and my family left to New York/New Jersey, that is when I heard the news on Facebook that Avery Bradley was being traded to Detroit. Then a few minutes later, I found out the deal was for Marcus Morris.

I'll admit, my first reaction was "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!??, WE TRADED FOR THE 'WORST' MORRIS TWIN. WE TRADED AVERY BRADLEY FOR MARCUS FREAKIN' MORRIS". 

Then what made me feel a little more agitated was seeing that we ALSO gave Detroit a 2019 2nd round pick. REALLY? They already 'fleeced' us in a sense by getting underrated, elite 2-way player in Bradley, and now they had the audacity to also want a 2nd rounder back from us? 

I'll admit, we started the trip on the road, and my mood was down for much of it.

I know why it was done, and I know Morris is a solid PF and balances out the roster. I knew all of this. But still... this just didn't feel right at all.

Avery Bradley, drafted in 2010 and the last link to the Big 3 team from the 2008-2012 period, suddenly gone just to make some room for Hayward (for just a MEASLY 300k difference in cap space), and traded for Marcus Morris, of all people/assets.

It made me wonder, is Hayward really that much better than Bradley, KO, and others who left to make room for him? (Because initially, there were also rumors the C's would shop Crowder too).

Also, Marcus Morris IS NOT a great rebounder, so how are we filling that hole?

The C's were the laughingstock of the National Media and most sites/pages after the trade, and that didn't help my mood much either.

But I guess I understood, Ainge HAD TO LOSE a trade at some point, and this was it, all thanks to the dang salary cap and lack of leverage due to the Hayward deal. I'm still feeling iffy about this deal, but slowly I'm starting to move on from losing AB.

So that's my little rant about how I feel about this trade, and it's kind of depressing that it was made about the time I went on a vacation trip lol, my luck.

Although it looks like we could see Yabusele next season after all, but it's a shame we can't see him now due to his injury during the Summer League.

Still, will be interesting to see who the C's sign with their remaining exception (I hope Dedmon, but with only 1 room exception since we no longer have MLE, it's probably not enough $$$ for him...).

[Ilikesports17]

It is not clear that Ainge has lost this trade yet. Have to wait and see how AB and Morris play this year and how much AB costs next year compared to smart and how much Smart Brown and rozier improve before you can really judge the trade. I mean who would have ever thought we won the Rondo deal on the back of Jae Crowder?

Liked the deal, felt it was slightly better than I expected us to do. I give it a solid B. Morris fits well and he's cheap and I felt AB had to go. It sucks to see Bradley go but it had to be done. Ideally we could have gotten a true PF, but I'd like to see how Morris does with some really good coaching.

[Phantom255x]

It is not clear that Ainge has lost this trade yet. Have to wait and see how AB and Morris play this year and how much AB costs next year compared to smart and how much Smart Brown and rozier improve before you can really judge the trade. I mean who would have ever thought we won the Rondo deal on the back of Jae Crowder?

Liked the deal, felt it was slightly better than I expected us to do. I give it a solid B. Morris fits well and he's cheap and I felt AB had to go. It sucks to see Bradley go but it had to be done. Ideally we could have gotten a true PF, but I'd like to see how Morris does with some really good coaching.

TP. Yeah that's pretty reassuring, and I agree, Crowder went from being "filler" from that Rondo trade to being the reason we won that trade LOL.

I'm curious to see how Morris does here, but I'm hoping the rebounding issues were mainly because he played a lot with Drummond, because otherwise we still need to fill that void somehow (more than just Zizic/Theis).

Part of me thinks Crowder+Morris could be valuable trade chips in a future trade at the deadline or next summer for someone big (yeah that's right, I still believe - Porzingis or another disgruntled star)  (Anthony Davis though, I know is a pure pipe dream with 4 years left on his deal lol)

[mahcus smaht]

It is not clear that Ainge has lost this trade yet. Have to wait and see how AB and Morris play this year and how much AB costs next year compared to smart and how much Smart Brown and rozier improve before you can really judge the trade. I mean who would have ever thought we won the Rondo deal on the back of Jae Crowder?

Liked the deal, felt it was slightly better than I expected us to do. I give it a solid B. Morris fits well and he's cheap and I felt AB had to go. It sucks to see Bradley go but it had to be done. Ideally we could have gotten a true PF, but I'd like to see how Morris does with some really good coaching.

TP. Yeah that's pretty reassuring, and I agree, Crowder went from being "filler" from that Rondo trade to being the reason we won that trade LOL.

I'm curious to see how Morris does here, but I'm hoping the rebounding issues were mainly because he played a lot with Drummond, because otherwise we still need to fill that void somehow (more than just Zizic/Theis).

Part of me thinks Crowder+Morris could be valuable trade chips in a future trade at the deadline or next summer for someone big (yeah that's right, I still believe - Porzingis or another disgruntled star)  (Anthony Davis though, I know is a pure pipe dream with 4 years left on his deal lol)

Unfortunately his career dreb % is like 15% in his non-Detroit days so I wouldn't hold out too much hope on the rebs.

I'm giving the deal a B. I expected a protected pick so it's nice to get a player and he's supposedly a gamer. That said, AB is by far the better player so I don't feel comfortable throwing this deal up into the B+ A- range

[Phantom255x]

It is not clear that Ainge has lost this trade yet. Have to wait and see how AB and Morris play this year and how much AB costs next year compared to smart and how much Smart Brown and rozier improve before you can really judge the trade. I mean who would have ever thought we won the Rondo deal on the back of Jae Crowder?

Liked the deal, felt it was slightly better than I expected us to do. I give it a solid B. Morris fits well and he's cheap and I felt AB had to go. It sucks to see Bradley go but it had to be done. Ideally we could have gotten a true PF, but I'd like to see how Morris does with some really good coaching.

TP. Yeah that's pretty reassuring, and I agree, Crowder went from being "filler" from that Rondo trade to being the reason we won that trade LOL.

I'm curious to see how Morris does here, but I'm hoping the rebounding issues were mainly because he played a lot with Drummond, because otherwise we still need to fill that void somehow (more than just Zizic/Theis).

Part of me thinks Crowder+Morris could be valuable trade chips in a future trade at the deadline or next summer for someone big (yeah that's right, I still believe - Porzingis or another disgruntled star)  (Anthony Davis though, I know is a pure pipe dream with 4 years left on his deal lol)

Unfortunately his career dreb % is like 15% in his non-Detroit days so I wouldn't hold out too much hope on the rebs.

I'm giving the deal a B. I expected a protected pick so it's nice to get a player and he's supposedly a gamer. That said, AB is by far the better player so I don't feel comfortable throwing this deal up into the B+ A- range

Yeah makes sense.

I'll feel a little better about this if we somehow grab another rebounder (using an exception probably). Right now, a Horford-Morris front court doesn't look like the best rebounding duo at all lol.

Still, Detroit clearly got the better player in the deal, but at the same time may be forced to give AB a max to keep him after next season.

[kmart12]

I gave it an old fashioned C-.

I won't buy the idea that Morris can play PF because he's never proven himself as a rebounder or a defender in a capacity that suggests that he can. He is a SF and to think that we added yet another wing is perplexing and kind of tiring from my standpoint. I'm a little over the CBS "position-less" basketball philosophy and even viewing this trade from that perspective, we still didn't add a "big", which is pretty much the only thing we need at this point. I'm hoping there is some reason beyond basketball (i.e., salary) that made Ainge think this was a good idea.

[C3LTSF4N]

It's absolutely about salary.  We got a decent PF for 5m a year.  It's a great deal and Morris's contract are the types you need to surround max players.  We were losing Bradley next year anyway and filled a position we need while keeping financial flexibility.  This is a snapshot in time and the team will continue to change, you can't judge it as the end all be all.  The trade is fine imo, I gave it a B+.  It had to be done. 

You can thank the warriors and cavs for annihilating the league and preventing the anticipated cap rise. We wouldn't have just traded Bradley for that deal if the cap went where it was thought to.

[OHCeltic]

1- salary for upgrade at SF
2- Needed a PF
3- Bradley wasn't gonna get $20 million next year
4- Thinned out logjam at Guard

[CelticSince83]

The only thing worse than losing Bradley as a cap casualty is seeing IT on tv yapping about a max contract hours later.

[droopdog7]

I'm giving the trade a B+.  Like has been said, a deal had to be done and getting a guy like Morris at 5 mil per year is good value.  As for who is better, I agree that Avery is the better player.  But you have to expect to pay a premium when trading little for big.  Relatively speaking each players value is not as far apart.  And let's not forget Avery track record with injuries and the fact that he is an undersized shooting guard.

[trickybilly]

It is not clear that Ainge has lost this trade yet. Have to wait and see how AB and Morris play this year and how much AB costs next year compared to smart and how much Smart Brown and rozier improve before you can really judge the trade. I mean who would have ever thought we won the Rondo deal on the back of Jae Crowder?

Liked the deal, felt it was slightly better than I expected us to do. I give it a solid B. Morris fits well and he's cheap and I felt AB had to go. It sucks to see Bradley go but it had to be done. Ideally we could have gotten a true PF, but I'd like to see how Morris does with some really good coaching.

TP. Yeah that's pretty reassuring, and I agree, Crowder went from being "filler" from that Rondo trade to being the reason we won that trade LOL.

I'm curious to see how Morris does here, but I'm hoping the rebounding issues were mainly because he played a lot with Drummond, because otherwise we still need to fill that void somehow (more than just Zizic/Theis).

Part of me thinks Crowder+Morris could be valuable trade chips in a future trade at the deadline or next summer for someone big (yeah that's right, I still believe - Porzingis or another disgruntled star)  (Anthony Davis though, I know is a pure pipe dream with 4 years left on his deal lol)

Crowder was actually the second beat prize after the protected pick. Pretty sure Danny made including Jae a non-neg part of that trade.

It does feel like a trade for KG is coming soon..

[Celtics4ever]

But I guess I understood, Ainge HAD TO LOSE a trade at some point, and this was it, all thanks to the dang salary cap and lack of leverage due to the Hayward deal. I'm still feeling iffy about this deal, but slowly I'm starting to move on from losing AB.

I don't losing AB either, but Ainge did not lose this trade.   AB wanted paid and was going to walk next year.   Ainge got something for him and this trade allowed us to get Hayward.  Hayward is a better player than AB.

[Granath]

It's absolutely about salary.  We got a decent PF for 5m a year.  It's a great deal and Morris's contract are the types you need to surround max players.  We were losing Bradley next year anyway and filled a position we need while keeping financial flexibility.  This is a snapshot in time and the team will continue to change, you can't judge it as the end all be all.  The trade is fine imo, I gave it a B+.  It had to be done. 

You can thank the warriors and cavs for annihilating the league and preventing the anticipated cap rise. We wouldn't have just traded Bradley for that deal if the cap went where it was thought to.

TP.

It was about salary and Boston - in a position where everyone knew they had to make a deal - still got a lower-end-but-still-starting-caliber SF/PF at under $6m for the next two years. He doesn't address the rebounding situation but his .355 shooting percentage from 3 so he also doubles as a replacement for KO. So from Boston's standpoint this is a B+.

The Pistons got the better player to be sure but that's not how you have to evaluate this trade from their standpoint. They had to renounce KCP to get Bradley. So this trade, for them, was Morris + KCP for 1 year of Avery Bradley and then, at best, 4 more years of AB @ $20m/yr. That's not a great deal from their standpoint. Their grade is a C.

Does someone want to tell me Danny somehow "lost" this trade?

[Surferdad]

Grading the trade, judging winners/losers...it's all pretty meaningless at this point.  There are just too many ways too look at it...and some of us are still quite emotional.

I've been watching the national media reaction:  Mostly negative about how the C's made out.  I understand that.  Detroit probably got back more return, but let me ask this:  Who won the DeMarcus Cousins trade?  Who won the Paul George trade?  It's not just about talent.

As far as our own reactions, I'm not going to let ANY trade ruin my day.  Basketball is only a game, there are more important things in life.

[obnoxiousmime]

It's disappointing to lose Bradley, but I don't know what people were expecting. How were we going to sign him next season? They didn't make the trade solely because they needed to fit in Hayward. They combined two reasons the move was necessary into one transaction. Isn't that good planning?

Danny's trade options were limited because Bradley could very possibly be a one-year rental. In addition, a lot the demand for Bradley was probably coming from our direct competitors who are definitely in "win-now" mode. By trading him to Detroit, Danny didn't help a rival playoff team get better.

The 2nd round pick is going to be in the 50s. I don't think it was worth that much, why all the bellyaching?

And I don't know what national sites people are going to, but the reaction I've seen is generally positive for the Celts. Pelton on ESPN gave the Celtics a B+ and the Pistons a D. Generally, uninformed media types who don't follow basketball closely are just looking at this deal from the narrative of, "this was about clearing salary so the desperate Celts had to make a bad deal." This WAS about clearing salary, but more about the fact Bradley is gone next year.

Now we get Morris for two years and keep Crowder for three at ridiculously cheap rates. That will keep our luxury tax down while still maintaining the depth a good playoff team needs. Smart isn't exactly a Bradley replacement, but he can make up for the defensive loss, and he's a restricted FA next year, meaning the Celts still have some level of control over him.

I don't get it. What do people think we should have done? Kept him for a year? Or traded him for someone different? If people think there's a rebounding big man out there we could have traded for who has two years and is making only $5 mil/year or less, please let me know.