(Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
The Detroit Pistons are making shooting guard Avery Bradley available in trade talks, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
So far, Detroit’s asking price for Bradley is significant, league sources said. Bradley is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and could command an annual salary in the $20 million range.
The Pistons acquired Bradley, along with a second-round pick, from the Boston Celtics in July in exchange for power forward Marcus Morris.
Last season, Bradley was a tantalizing prospect. Despite his diminutive stature at the shooting-guard position, Bradley hounds opposing point guards and was a solid offensive option.
Bradley’s value defensively hasn’t changed; he’s still arguably the best player in the league at guarding point guards, but his major flaw on that end has become more apparent in Detroit. That flaw: He’s 6-foot-2. He struggles against larger players, and you can’t always put him on point guards, because if you do, who’s your point guard defending?
Bradley’s offensive consistency has also plummetted away from Brad Stevens’ scheme. In Detroit, his field-goal percentage has dropped to 40.9 percent. Last season he shot 46.3 percent. His 3-point percentage has slightly fallen, but 38.1 percent is still a good mark.
In his last season in Boston, Bradley averaged an impressive 6.1 rebounds per game. Before that, his career-high in rebounds was 3.8. It’s looking like that rebounding spike was an anomaly, as Bradley is averaging just 2.4 rebounds per game as a Piston.
The Pistons would probably prefer not to sell low on Bradley but are running out of time.
The trade deadline is Feb. 8.
