Is Avery Bradley Expendable?

‘Disappointed’ may not be the right word to describe Celtics fans’ reactions after hearing the Celtics had drafted Terry Rozier‘s 16th overall. ‘Confused’ may be more appropriate, seeing as the majority of draft boards had Rozier going in the 20s. Knicks fans, however, were extremely disappointed (and disrespectful) upon hearing Kristaps Porzingis‘ name called as the third overall pick.

Celtics fans have more faith in their team than Knicks fans do – and for good reason, too. Danny Ainge has masterfully guided the Celtics through the post-Pierce landscape. He’s also been extremely transparent through the entire ordeal – making each of his moves relatively predictable up to this point. But this year’s draft was considerably different. It surprised Celtics fans to see Ainge draft three guards when most fans were already satisfied with the team’s collection of guards. This draft suggested that Ainge, however, was not yet satisfied with the Celtics’ back court.

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With all this depth at both guard positions, the Celtics are going to have some healthy inter-competition amongst their guards.

Nobody’s minutes are safe. Even their projected opening day starting guards – Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart – will need to remain in top form in order to sustain equal playing time this season. Maybe the only Celtics guard guaranteed equal minutes is Isaiah Thomas, who’s too important to their offense to sit on the bench.

Besides Thomas, there’s a ton of redundancy among the Celtics guards. So are any of them expendable?

R.J. Hunter is probably the weakest Celtics guard right now. He’s too skinny to defend two’s in the NBA and he needs to significantly transform his game from a high-volume shooting first option, like he was at Georgia State, into a catch-and-shoot role player. He’ll likely spend a large chunk of time up in Portland this season with the Red-Claws. But this certainly does not make him expendable.

R.J. Hunter has the potential to be a deadly corner three-point shooter: a threat every team needs. Considering he’s on a rookie contract, there’s no real need to get his salary off the books, considering he takes up only 2% of the team’s total salary cap. The only reason to trade him, is if he’s included in a major package that nets the C’s a major asset in return. There’s no reason for Ainge to move Hunter anytime soon.

Even though James Young‘s only in his second year of his rookie deal, he may become expendable soon if he can’t improve at all over last season. His rookie year was a major disappointment as it seemed every other Celtics player had a breakout game besides him. We kept on waiting for it, expecting it to come but it never did. You’d have thought that at least once he’d have gotten hot and hit some consecutive shots. He wasn’t even impressive during summer league, too. We heard all about Young gaining muscle this offseason and how it’d help him defend in summer league, but the results were negligible.

However, Young still deserves one more season to prove his worth. He’s only 20 years old, and if he could be John Calipari’s Kentucky squad’s number one option, he must have the potential in him to be a scorer in the NBA.

Avery Bradley’s future still remains up in the air. Last year, another team reportedly offered a first round pick for him, which Danny Ainge refused. At the time, it illustrated a place for Bradley in the Celtics future. If Ainge considered Bradley more valuable than a first-rounder, then Ainge must have had some faith in him last season. But with such a glut of guards nowadays, Ainge’s vision may have changed since then.

A pleasant surprise that we saw out of Marcus Smart last season was his ability to play off-the-ball. He hit enought catch-and-shoot threes to warrant coverage on the perimeter and he proved an equally effective defender against off-guards as point guards. This may be ultimately dooming for Avery Bradley. If Terry Rozier seems capable of developing into a starting point guard, in addition to Smart remaining capable of playing the two, there may be no place for Bradley on the Celtics. And considering Bradley has legitimate trade value – illustrated by last season’s reported trade proposal – he may prove more valuable as a trade asset.

However, we’ll have to suspend judgement until at least the mid-point of the upcoming season. This year will be the litmus test for this season’s back court. If it seems Bradley has already reached his peak, then his tenure in Boston may be at its conclusion. But if he makes a Jimmy Butler-sized leap, he will have secured the starting two-guard spot on the Celtics for years to come.

Next: Ex-Celtic Jordan Crawford Signs With The Chicago Bulls

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