Could Avery Bradley win Defensive Player of the Year?

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Could Avery Bradley win Defensive Player of the Year? Empty Could Avery Bradley win Defensive Player of the Year?

Post by bobheckler Sat Aug 20, 2016 12:14 pm

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/08/boston_celtics_forecast_could.html



Boston Celtics forecast: Could Avery Bradley win Defensive Player of the Year?


Could Avery Bradley win Defensive Player of the Year? 20951048-mmmain
Could Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley win Defensive Player of the Year this season? (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)



Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com By Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com


on August 19, 2016 at 4:35 PM, updated August 19, 2016 at 4:40 PM



Before we begin, let's note that Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley probably won't win Defensive Player of the Year honors this season.

After all, that award is often given to centers who can protect the paint and rack up enormous block totals, or — in recent years — to versatile defenders like Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green, who can guard and shut down multiple positions, giving teams highly important versatility. The Defensive Player of the Year this season will probably be either one of those two or someone like Los Angeles Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan who has an enormous impact around the rim, deterring penetrating guards and wings.

Probably.


But Bradley was honored with an All-Defense First Team selection last season, and he is arguably the Celtics' most notable (and in many ways, flashiest) defender — few player get into an opponent's airspace defensively quite like Bradley, whose ball-hawking abilities have made him into one of the most valuable players on the Celtics.

So when ESPN Boston's Summer Forecast series asked us to hand out some postseason hardware (here in the very preseason), we went big.

Tom Westerholm, MassLive (Avery Bradley, Defensive Player of the Year): OK, this probably won't happen BUT ... let's say the Celtics emerge as the best defense in the NBA (not impossible!). Let's say people decide to reward the best defender on the best team (not impossible!). At that point, couldn't Bradley be the Defensive Player of the Year? It's not likely, but it's not impossible.

I wasn't the only one to go out on the Avery Bradley limb.

John Karalis, Red's Army (Bradley, Defensive Player of the Year): Let's take the next step with Bradley, shall we? First-team All-Defense puts him on the map with the media. Every time he locks guys down, you'll hear announcers refer to his All-Defense selection and that has an influence on the voters. Boston could be the second-best team in the East, and if the Celtics finish with a top-flight defense, Bradley could be the go-to vote for voters who (a) shun Kawhi Leonard because of the defensive dip San Antonio takes without Tim Duncan anchoring them and (b) shun Draymond Green because Golden State is too loaded to be handing anyone defensive awards. Bradley could be the guy voters are looking for to make a justified protest vote.

There are other (more likely) options for Celtics hardware — Marcus Smart for either Sixth Man of the Year or Most Improved, Terry Rozier for either of the same awards, Bradley for All-Defense First Team, or even Isaiah Thomas for All-NBA Third Team — and it will certainly require a special season to see a guard like Bradley take home this individual award.

But Boston's backcourt is a special group of defenders, and Bradley is their leader on that end. If the Celtics can put together the league's top defense, this pick might not look quite as ridiculous when April rolls around. At the very least, you can bet that Bradley's teammates will be campaigning for it.




bob
MY NOTE:  I don't think Bradley will get DPOY as long as Leonard and Green are at the top of their games but so what?  The only honorific that really matters is "World Champion".  He was the #3 vote getter for DPOY after those two, and neither of them are guards.  That puts Bradley at the top of his position, defensively.  What we need, desperately, is for Smart and Rozier's offenses to step up.  They are both already good defenders.  Smart is positively ferocious and defends multiple positions and Rozier is a younger Bradley (with a longer wingspan despite being the same height, 6'8" vs 6'7").  The one I'm more worried about it Smart.  I've never liked his shooting mechanics and his pathetic fg% bears my observations out.  As bad as his shooting was in his rookie year it was worse in his sophomore year.  That's right, it got worse from both 2 and 3.  I love his defense, I love his competitiveness but he is NOT an NBA player on offense.  Rozier showed well in the playoffs.  He is another fanatic on defense, which I love, and his rebounding, as a 6'2" guard, triggers my drool reflex.  His shooting % were excrement last year but he was a rookie and he didn't get many minutes/game (as opposed to Smart who got a lot of minutes in both of his first two years).  A step up by Rozier, especially on offense, could put Bradley on the trade block.  Rozier might not step up enough to replace Bradley on offense, but the player that comes for Bradley might fill another hole we have. They are almost identical in build, with very similar skills and talents and Bradley will bring a big name in trade.  An eye-opening beginning of the season for Jaylen Brown might nudge Smart up closer to the trade block.  They aren't as similar as Bradley and Rozier are, but if Brown can show he can guard big guards as well as his more natural position, SF, then maybe.  His offense certainly won't be worse, and Smart will bring a quality player too (maybe not as big as Bradley, but quality).


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Could Avery Bradley win Defensive Player of the Year? Empty Re: Could Avery Bradley win Defensive Player of the Year?

Post by mulcogiseng Sat Aug 20, 2016 4:11 pm

I think the Celtics are at the point where they need to package a few players to get the next piece. None of these guys are making enough money on their own to trade straight up for some one who will improve the team more than staying the course. We are very close to being that team no one wants to face in a playoff series. Rozier is our backup pg. Neither Smart nor Bradley have proven to be reliable at the facilitator but Terry has real potential. That raises his trade value but we would then need someone to replace that role. A combination of Bradley, Smart and potentially Brown could manage if we don't get a pg in return but I'd prefer someone who actually can produce that skill set.

The real question is, is there anyone out there who can truly upgrade the members of our core team? Everyone of these guys is going to improve a lot this season, none more so then Brown. I am expecting to see a much improved player in training camp. I still don't see a major move until the trading deadline, if then. I wouldn't be surprised to see Danny clear the contract logjam just facilitating other deals and building more assets. He only has a couple more years of Nets picks after all.

DPOY? Not yet. But another first team would be nice. While trying to keep my expectations low and reasonable, I know right now that playing in the EConf finals won't be good enough.

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