Under this rationale, anybody who signs before the new tv deal would become a bargain because everybody's salary would go up. So if we didn't spend the money on Bradley and say, signed a free agent instead THAT player would also be a great deal! See where the logic gets faulty here?
Also, you're assuming 1) Bradley will improve over the course of the deal and 2) he will stay healthy over the course of the deal. I'm sure number 1 is a reasonably safe assumption though obviously he's not going to ever reach star levels. Health is where I get worried because his track record is not the greatest.
Finally, it's another question of who are you bidding against? Like with the Green contract there wasn't much of an impression teams were clamoring for this guy at 8 mil/year. There's also a line of thought that you can't have too many non-star players on these 8-10 million dollar deals because it just traps you in mediocrity. You try to load up on stars first, then find role players who take discounts or will accept the mid-level.
If Bradley is worth 8 million, what is Sullinger worth? Are we going to have an entire squad of guys making 8-10 million that will never make an all-star team?
Your point is moot because by the time Sully will be worth that money (and it is my opinion that he will be worth at least that) the Celtics will a) have an extremely young, talented crop of players on very manageable deals (think past this year's pick and the BKN picks) and b) be operating under a significantly raised cap. You sort of just toss aside the latter point as if it isn't substantial when evaluating Bradley's deal.
The point raised is, what player will be more of a bargain at $8m/yr when the hard cap is hovering around the $80m? AB's 23 with a whole lot of serious offensive potential left and has already proven he can at least stick around on a contender's bench as a perimeter defender, three-point shooter and off-ball finisher. Worst case scenario he's a fairly paid bench player. Best case scenario he's a quasi-star who can play two positions. I don't get the pessimism about his improvement. He's 23 (have I said that already?) and has taken sincere steps in preventing chronic injury. That 15-20 extra pounds of muscle should go a long way in keeping him on the court.
People keep talking about what Danny was "keeping in mind" when he signed Bradley. He knows a few things:
1) He can assemble a legitimate, affordable contender merely by continuing to draft well. If he *ever so slightly* gambled on Bradley, it isn't disastrous for our future. There's a reason why we gave up Truth/KG and took on Wallace for those picks.
2) He has a few tangible bright spots even aside from Bradley on this miserable team who will be affordable for years: JS/KO/Smart/Young on their rookie deals or team option/qualifying offer deals.
3) The cap will continue to rise.
4) The medical staff has said Bradley's injuries are not chronic ones (meaning he doesn't have a bum shoulder or bum knee, just has suffered random injuries).
5) Bradley has displayed dedication and the ability to recognize weaknesses in his game: last year three-point shooting, this year hopefully ball-handling/play-making.
What's so bad about this deal? Please somebody explain without just saying "we could've signed someone else."