Gortat/Bradley merged thread. (the one and only)

[OmarSekou]

I'd do it unless I had insider knowledge that it'd mess with chemistry.

Bradley for all of his potential is an unknown. How will he come back from his injuries (especially his shot)? Is he in shape? Will he be prone to injuries? Can he be as good as last year? Can he be better?

Gortat is a known quantity. He's heady and can basically combine the strengths of Wilcox and Sully into one player with more length. He can play with KG and probably be the guy to help shore up the D when KG needs a blow.

I could be completely wrong, but if the deal was there...I'd give up Bradley and Bass (I'd rather give up a pu pu platter of other reserves because Bass' range is valuable off the bench).

[Professor of Rondology]

I thought everyone was of the same belief as mine: the most trade-able players are Bass, Lee, and Melo, and to a lesser extent Green and Sullinger.

Bass/Sullinger and Lee/Terry/Bradley are all fairly expendable due to the depth we have at those positions. However, I'm not sure why you had Terry in your untrade-able list- we'd still have Bradley and Lee at the 2 spot and Rondo and Barbosa at the 1. 
Also, it's already been said many times but Green is not really trade-able unless we get a legit backup 3 in return.  I don't think relying on Peaches or some other random pick-up is a good move.

Gortat is a known quantity. He's heady and can basically combine the strengths of Wilcox and Sully into one player with more length. He can play with KG and probably be the guy to help shore up the D when KG needs a blow.

Gortat is a very good all-around basketball player.  Defensively, he protects the rim and rebounds extremely well.  He can provide the backbone we need when KG is on the pine, and pairing those two together would create quite a formidable frontcourt.  Offensively, he has a nice jumper with decent range, and can be very effective rolling to the hoop. With Rondo he could be an efficient scorer and help take more of the scoring load away from KG and Paul.

[hpantazo]

I thought everyone was of the same belief as mine: the most trade-able players are Bass, Lee, and Melo, and to a lesser extent Green and Sullinger.

Bass/Sullinger and Lee/Terry/Bradley are all fairly expendable due to the depth we have at those positions. However, I'm not sure why you had Terry in your untrade-able list- we'd still have Bradley and Lee at the 2 spot and Rondo and Barbosa at the 1. 
Also, it's already been said many times but Green is not really trade-able unless we get a legit backup 3 in return.  I don't think relying on Peaches or some other random pick-up is a good move.

Gortat is a known quantity. He's heady and can basically combine the strengths of Wilcox and Sully into one player with more length. He can play with KG and probably be the guy to help shore up the D when KG needs a blow.

Gortat is a very good all-around basketball player.  Defensively, he protects the rim and rebounds extremely well.  He can provide the backbone we need when KG is on the pine, and pairing those two together would create quite a formidable frontcourt.  Offensively, he has a nice jumper with decent range, and can be very effective rolling to the hoop. With Rondo he could be an efficient scorer and help take more of the scoring load away from KG and Paul.

I think a lot of people forget that Green is a very good wing defender who can guard every guy we would have to face on the way to 18, including Lebron, Carmelo, Amare, Boozer, Deng, Evan Turner, Durant, and Kobe. There is no one on the FA list that comes even remotely close to doing that.

[Lightskinsmurf]

Bradley will be back soon and all of these questions will be answered. To trade him before that is stupid IMO.

We could very well already have a team that's good enough to go the distance. No need to pull any early triggers.

Before this season started most of us thought we were already good enough. I know i did.

Problem is LEE and GREEN are underachieving a great deal right now. We were counting on them to be huge for us and so for a disappointment.

AB coming back not only makes our defense and starting lineup a ton better but it moves terry back to the bench thus making the bench better.

 I don't even think we can fairly judge this team until AB returns. That's how valuable he is to this team.

[hpantazo]

Bradley will be back soon and all of these questions will be answered. To trade him before that is stupid IMO.

We could very well already have a team that's good enough to go the distance. No need to pull any early triggers.

Before this season started most of us thought we were already good enough. I know i did.

Problem is LEE and GREEN are underachieving a great deal right now. We were counting on them to be huge for us and so for a disappointment.

AB coming back not only makes our defense and starting lineup a ton better but it moves terry back to the bench thus making the bench better.

 I don't even think we can fairly judge this team until AB returns. That's how valuable he is to this team.

Wow, Avery, is that you?!?!

[Lightskinsmurf]

Bradley will be back soon and all of these questions will be answered. To trade him before that is stupid IMO.

We could very well already have a team that's good enough to go the distance. No need to pull any early triggers.

Before this season started most of us thought we were already good enough. I know i did.

Problem is LEE and GREEN are underachieving a great deal right now. We were counting on them to be huge for us and so for a disappointment.

AB coming back not only makes our defense and starting lineup a ton better but it moves terry back to the bench thus making the bench better.

 I don't even think we can fairly judge this team until AB returns. That's how valuable he is to this team.

Wow, Avery, is that you?!?!

lol, shut up.

[Who]

I don't even think we can fairly judge this team until AB returns. That's how valuable he is to this team.

Agreed -- Avery is the piece that lifts Boston from a good playoff team to a title contender.

[Big Rondo]

LOL

You guys speak of Avery Bradley as if this guy was Michael Jordan! I don't care what anyone says, a third year 2 guard coming off double shoulder surgery is not in any way going to lift this team from playoff contender to title contender.

Look at it this way, we're 1 big man injury away from being kicked out in the 2nd round. On the other hand, we could reasonably sustain an injury to any of our guards not named Rondo and still be in contention to make it deep.

Big man depth always always always counts for more than scoring and ball pressure and what Bradley gives us in defense and scoring, Gortat more than makes up for closer to the basket where the percentages REALLY count.

If anyone is going to help this team get over the cliff, it'll be the guy who helps out our best player in KG, not the Jeremy Lin of defense who had a good stretch run and is a complete wild card at this point in his career.

The legend of Avery Bradley is getting far too out of control. 

[jdz101]

I'm pretty sure there will be an agreement with terry somewhere that he won't be traded.

Carry on though.

[SHAQATTACK]

Like to see LEE traded ,  as opposed to Bradley.  I guess ing Joseph is gonna be far better than Lee anyway by next year.

[SHAQATTACK]

I don't even think we can fairly judge this team until AB returns. That's how valuable he is to this team.

Agreed -- Avery is the piece that lifts Boston from a good playoff team to a title contender.

This statement is pretty much the bottom line, and Boston fans are't the only ones that know this, the other GM's have eyes and ears too.

[Kuberski1]

I like Avery as much as the next guy....but for a starting NBA guard:

a) He is a very good on-ball defender, probably top 10%.
b) He is limited offensively:  He is not a natural point, if one at all, has limited range for a 2.  He is a little below average offensively.

Bottom-line is I don't think he is that hard to replace.  Yes, we played great when he was inserted in the starting line-up last year - but how much of that was Bradley?  It was that same line-up, sans Bradley, that took the Heat to 7....In addition, we now have a solid 4 guard rotation of Rondo, Terry, Lee, Barbosa, with Pierce being able to slot in at the 2 in a pinch.

Meanwhile, we are small at the 4/5, with no real post presence, and are vulnerable to muscular, aggressive 4/5 players (Chris Singleton's season high in points came against us, and Reggie Evans looked a few cuts above the journey-man he is...).  KG and Wilcox are small for 5s, as are Bass and Sully for 4s.

So, if we can get a skilled big man, who will give us some combination of interior defensive presence, post game, rebounding, and shot-blocking, then I'd be for moving Bradley.   

[mctyson]

Green's not going anywhere, and you saw why last night. He'll get it.

As for Bradley, he remains a largely unproven player with a small sample size of productive play and significant ongoing health questions that we can replace with this roster.

I'm fine with moving him for inside help.

My bold highlight is the one and only reason I would think about this trade.  Assuming AB is completely healthy and will continue to stay that way, I would not trade him for Gortat.  AB is a potential All-NBA first team defender and you simply don't trade those guys for a backup center.

But AB has had problems staying healthy.  If Danny thinks this is something that will continue for AB's career, and PHX will look the other way and accept him, then I would be OK with the trade.

The larger issue is of course AB's salary doesn't come close to Gortat, so we'd have to throw in either Bass or Green, or I guess Lee and maybe Melo.  That is WAY too much to trade for Gortat.

[mctyson]

It wasn't Wade that killed the Celtics in the playoffs.  It was the return of Bosh that forced KG away from the paint on defense.  If there was another big down there that could close the lane for Lebron while still fitting into the offense, that is a huge bonus.

More like Bosh, Battier, and Chalmers hitting 3's.  Gortat does nothing to fix that.

[mctyson]

I really like this team, but if Marcin Gortat is available and Danny's in line to get him for a package that doesn't include any of our three star players, I feel that we have to at least consider it. 

THIS


I'd give up Lee, Sully, Melo and a pick for Gortat in a heartbeat.  I love Sully, but Gortat is clearly a much better player right now- and we are gunning for banner 18 THIS year

Getting Marcin Gortat in no way guarantees us a trip to the Finals.  We almost beat Miami last year with a team that had even less big depth than we do now.  Not having a center WAS NOT the reason Miami beat us last year.

Now...you could argue that there is a good chance we won't get lucky enough to reach the EC Finals without an improvement down low.  Maybe we don't need a Gortat-like player to beat Miami, but we might need that player to beat the Knicks or Nets.  I don't know if I agree, but that is a more reasonable position than "Gortat = Banner 18."

Also, remember the conversation people were having on these boards last year.  It was either "blow it up" or "keep it together."  There was some strength to the "blow it up" argument.  This is a team that needs to REBUILD FOR THE FUTURE.  We cannot continue to trot out Pierce and KG indefinitely, supplementing them with the Jason Terrys and Wilcoxs of the world, and expect to win a championship.

If we dump Avery Bradley and Sullinger, or one of those with Melo and future picks, we are flushing any youth this team has down the toilet.  You may be in favor of that.  I am not.