Avery Bradley: 2nd best SG in the Eastern Conference

[loco_91]

2nd only to Toronto SG DeRozen.

His closest competition will be Bradley Beal... with Afflalo going to Denver and Dion Waiters becoming the 4th or 5th option on the Cavs.

Joe Johnson and JR Smith's days are behind them I believe, along with Wade most likely.

What do you guys think? Am I stretching here? I really think AB will be the 2nd best SG in the East next season.

He's already better then all of these players on defense and is a more efficient shooter then most of them.

better than Wade? Lol!

[Smitty77]

What jumps OUT at me is how mediocre the SG's in the Eastern Conference truly are!!!  10 of the 13 on this list are UNDER a 15 PER (average in the NBA) and 11 of the 13 are UNDER 15.6 PER.

That has to be by FAR the weakest position in the EAST.

Smitty77

[Celtics4ever]

Shooting looks down in the whole NBA to me.  Jordan and Bird shot over 50% and both shot a boat load of jumpers now a guy in the 45% is a crack shot.  No wonder SGs have such low per a lot of them can't shoot.

[Smitty77]

In other words, Kelly Olynyk had a higher regular season PER than 10 of the 13 on this list!!  I am astonished as to the love for Beal.  He is a below average player to this point!!!  The infatuation with Waiters amazes me as well.  He is a TERRIBLE defender.  For all the battle over Stephenson's services this summer, he had a 14.70 regular season PER. 

When you factor in defense, these are the only OVERALL players I would rate above Bradley:  Wade, DeRozan, Johnson, and Butler (a truly solid defender!!)!!!

Smitty77

[D.o.s.]

I don't know if PER is really the stat I would use, but SG is certainly at a low talent pool right now.

[Chris22]

Hopefully James Young will be starting by the end of the year, and Bradley will be the highest paid backup two guard in the league.

[mmmmm]

Shooting looks down in the whole NBA to me.  Jordan and Bird shot over 50% and both shot a boat load of jumpers now a guy in the 45% is a crack shot.  No wonder SGs have such low per a lot of them can't shoot.

That's just a result of the increased emphasis on the 3PT shot in the NBA.

A 'good' 3PT shooter is anything above 33% and the 'best' 3PT shooters are at around 40%.   With more 3PT shots being taken by the NBA as a whole, that drags FG% down.

All that really means is that using FG% by itself to measure shooting efficiency is inadequate.   eFG%, which weights 3PT shots for their extra value is a better measure.

This last year's league-average FG% was 45.4%, the average eFG% was 50.4%

Those two numbers in 1986 were 48.7% FG% and 49.3% eFG%.

So while straight FG% is 'down', effective FG% is about the same.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

2nd only to Toronto SG DeRozen.

His closest competition will be Bradley Beal... with Afflalo going to Denver and Dion Waiters becoming the 4th or 5th option on the Cavs.

Joe Johnson and JR Smith's days are behind them I believe, along with Wade most likely.

What do you guys think? Am I stretching here? I really think AB will be the 2nd best SG in the East next season.

He's already better then all of these players on defense and is a more efficient shooter then most of them.

My initial reaction: Just shows how weak the Eastern Conference is.

[Chris22]

Bradley's ranking in 2014 among shooting guards only......

Scoring 19th....he shoots a lot for a bad team.
Rebounds 6th....very good.
Steals 15th...the thing he does well.
Assists 53rd....he's a terrible passer.
Turnovers per game 78th.....Yikes!
FG% 35th....he's not a good shooter.
FT% 43rd....that one surprised me.

Ainge should not have given Bradley a big contract.

[Interceptor]

Came here to post this:



Shame that Battier drilled that corner three.

[Celtics4ever]

So while straight FG% is 'down', effective FG% is about the same.

I am sure that is the league mantra.

[Smitty77]

Bradley's ranking in 2014 among shooting guards only......

Scoring 19th....he shoots a lot for a bad team.
Rebounds 6th....very good.
Steals 15th...the thing he does well.
Assists 53rd....he's a terrible passer.
Turnovers per game 78th.....Yikes!
FG% 35th....he's not a good shooter.
FT% 43rd....that one surprised me.

Ainge should not have given Bradley a big contract.

Would you agree that defense is HALF of the game of basketball???  Would you also agree that Avery is arguably the BEST SG defender in the East?  Wade is solid WHEN he plays.  Butler is solid and was a 2nd team All-NBA defender this year, BUT he shot UNDER 40% from the field.

I think only 2 of those 13 have been all-NBA defense in the last 2 years:  Avery and Butler.

Thoughts??

Smitty77

[Smitty77]

BTW, you have to go back to 2010 when Wade was a second-team All-NBA defensive player.  He was also second team in 2009 and 2005.  NEVER first team All-NBA defense.

Smitty77

[chambers]

He's probably top 15 in the league. His lack of handles hurts him a alot.
I also can't see James Young being a Bradley replacement, and I remember the day after the draft Ainge specifically said Young is a small forward, not a shooting guard.

I do believe Harden is the best SG in the NBA now, and it's because of how poor the position is in general. Wade and Kobe in their primes put Harden to shame- I've always believed a good SG should be able to create their own shot off the dribble and get to the free throw line, but also play off the ball. Harden doesn't really play off the ball as much as he could, preferring to hang around the perimeter instead of slashing- which is what I love about Bradley.

Depending how well Marcus Smart's shot comes along, we may have just drafted the next best shooting guard in the NBA
He's going to slash, he can attack off the dribble and he can get to the free throw line. If he can shoot 45%+ then we are laughing. Wade's never been a great shooter and he was easily the best SG in the world for quite a few years save injuries.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth #20]

This is what keeps me coming back, you think you saw the most ridiculous thread that could ever be created but sure enough on the next visit an even more insanely ludicrous thread has been created. I still maintain that the people creating these threads are either joking or a fan of another team, it is the only logical explanation. Forget about the litany of eastern conference shooting guards that are clearly way better than Avery Bradley, you are actually suggesting that Avery Bradley is better than Bradley Beal, this is how I know it is a joke thread. It is all a mute point anyway since Avery Bradley plays half the games in a season if you are lucky.