Ainge: In talks for Bradley extention

Ainge says Celtics in talks to extend Avery Bradley

Kurt Helin Oct 25, 2013, 12:49 PM EDT

AP


Not to spoil a story in the first sentence, but this may well not come together. One month ago Celtics GM Danny Ainge said he would wait until next summer when Avery Bradley was a restricted free agent to talk about a new deal with him. Meaning he planned to let the marketplace set his price after this season.

Now, the two sides are at least talking extension, reports A. Sherrod Blakely at CSNNE.com. Ainge wouldn’t give any details on where those talks stand, only that there have been some talks now.

Bradley started every preseason game for the Celtics and appears to be a favorite of new coach Brad Stevens. Bradley brings fantastic on-ball defense and in the preseason has been one of the more consistent offensive weapons on the team despite shooting just 37.8 percent. (Gerald Wallace has been the best offensive player… what, you expected a consistent Jeff Green?)

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The question, of course, is money.

Bradley is a potential defensive stopper but with questions on the other end of the floor, he’s not a franchise guy. He likely ends up a quality part of a future contending team. You could argue he is worth more than Green and Boston overpaid him at $9 million a year.

Four years in the $7 million to $8 million a year range ($30 million total)? That seems fair to me, but the Celtics may want to wait this year out and see what the market would offer next summer. That could save them some cash.

My guess is next summer is when this gets settled, but we’ll see.

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Get it done.


KJ

Second that. And one of my reasons is that Avery has shown the desire and ability to improve inn the area of his own offense and even on his defense and rebounding. I hope that any PG experiment is over. But I do believe Avery could be a lead SG for the Celtics for quite a while—as long as they always have a taller SG in reserve for situational needs.

Sam

Bradley is certainly a valuable player. I could see $7M/yr since it appears his offense is improving. C.Lee gets like $%M/yr I think and he's been inconsistent. Rondo is making $12M/yr and he's one of the best at his position, not even a max contract.


KJ

I like the mechanics on his stroke, he can be a really good shooter in a couple years IMHO. Theres 2 6'5" PG's rated very highly in the draft, if one falls to us, we could have a big Oscar/Magic type at the point on offense and defensively AB would be a real terror at the point and still play the 2 on offense. A healthy AB going at D Rose and Russel Westbrook and Chris Paul is a joy to watch.