Early Friday afternoon, the Boston Celtics agreed to trade guard Avery Bradley to the Detroit Pistons. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Bradley will be traded for forward Marcus Morris and a second round pick. The trade comes just a few days after the Celtics acquired All-Star Gordon Hayward via free agency.
However, Boston realized they would have to clear cap space to give Hayward a four-year max contract worth $128 million. Bradley will be leaving the team coming off a season where he averaged a career-high 16.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists.
During the 2017 NBA playoffs, Bradley was the Celtics second go-to-guy on the scoring end when Isaiah Thomas was injured or resting. He helped lead the team to the Eastern Conference Finals where they would end up losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.
Bradley captured one of the most exciting moments of the 2017 playoffs when he led Boston to a stunning upset in game four of the ECF in Cleveland by hitting the game winning three.
This season, Bradley will be entering the final year of his current contract. Although he is a valuable asset, getting rid of him now helps provide the Celtics the funds to happily pay Hayward what he could get if he were to stay with Utah.
For the Detroit Pistons, adding a talent like Bradley gives them a weapon that can play hard on both sides of the basketball. In the 2017 draft, they were able to select Luke Kennard. Kennard is already putting up solid numbers during the NBA’s Summer League.
Bradley will also be pairing up in the backcourt for Detroit with Reggie Jackson. Due to injury this past season, Jackson’s numbers were slightly down from the prior season. However, in a total of 158 games with the Pistons, Jackson has averaged 17.0 points a game.
The experience of Bradley, along with the young talent that the Pistons have been able to acquire via the NBA Draft over the last few seasons, should help the franchise get closer to being a playoff contender in short order.
Celtics trading Avery Bradley and a second-round pick to Detroit for Marcus Morris, source told ESPN.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) July 7, 2017
[Featured Image by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images]
