Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley is having the best year of his career, and he’s no longer just a defensive specialist.
We’ve seen this narrative before. A college player is highly-touted because of his defensive ability and slowly blossoms into a versatile scorer as he spends more time in the league. Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler have made the leap, and Avery Bradley is the next guy to be in that position.
With so many explosive guards playing the league today, it’s crucial for coaches to have guys in the backcourt who can slow down opposing playmakers. Bradley isn’t a physical freak of nature but does have the body to defend either guard spot. He measured 6-3.25 at the Draft Combine in 2010 with a wingspan of 6-7.25.
Bradley, 26, is in his seventh NBA season, and his improvement is more noticeable than any year prior. With a scoring clip of 17.9 points a night, he’s nearly six points higher than his career average and is 2.7 higher than last year.
Not only is he getting more shots, about 15 a game, but he’s also making more, and he’s turned into a deadeye three-point shooter. Overall, Bradley nails 48 percent of his shots, but he’s also shooting 40.6 from three while sticking two a game. As expected, his ability to space the floor creates more driving lanes, and Bradley takes advantage of those more often than not.
He’s not a slasher by any means, but he’s learned to take what the defense gives him, and his combo guard skills make him a reliable ball handler who can take his man off the dribble and finish around the basket. So far this year, according to Synergy, Bradley is shooting 61.8 percent on 152 shots within five feet of the basket — that’s a very respectable number, 13th amongst all guards, and is higher than Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Zach LaVine and Damian Lillard.
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