Avery Bradley Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Sixers, Celtics, Pistons, Magic

November 22nd, 2020 at 1:03am CST by Luke Adams

Joking that having son-in-law Seth Curry on the Sixers will let him see his granddaughter more often, head coach Doc Rivers said this week that it was an easy decision to acquire a sharpshooter like Curry when the team had an opportunity to make a deal with Dallas.

“One of the things we wanted to do – Elton (Brand), Daryl (Morey), and I – when we got here was create as much shooting as possible around Ben (Simmons) and Joel (Embiid),” Rivers said, per Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com. “This was a no-brainer.”

Curry wasn’t the only prolific outside shooter the 76ers acquired this week. The team also agreed to trade for Danny Green and used one of its draft picks on Arkansas’ Isaiah Joe, who averaged 3.5 made threes per game over the course of his college career.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

The Celtics and Hornets were among the teams that exhibited interest in free agent guard Avery Bradley before he signed with Miami, league sources told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
After reaching agreements with Jeff Teague and Tristan Thompson, the Celtics project to have 16 players competing for 15 roster spots, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, who notes (via Twitter) that one of those players – Javonte Green – is on a non-guaranteed deal. Two other Celtics had their 2020/21 salaries guaranteed today.
Rod Beard of The Detroit News takes a closer look at how Pistons general manager Troy Weaver has reshaped the team’s roster so far, explaining why the team opted to pay big money to Jerami Grant over Christian Wood and acknowledging that the Mason Plumlee signing was a bit of a “head-scratcher.”
The Magic appear to be running it back for the 2020/21 season with very few roster changes, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, who says it’s somewhat surprising that no trade involving Aaron Gordon or Evan Fournier has materialized. While team officials believe the current group can have a winning record, the front office will face criticism if the club once again finishes in the middle of the pack, failing to make any noise in the playoffs and failing to earn a high lottery pick, says Robbins.

Heat Sign Avery Bradley To Two-Year Deal

November 21st, 2020 at 12:44pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 23: The Heat have officially announced their deal with Bradley, issuing a press release to confirming the signing.

“This is a great signing that can help us right away,” team president Pat Riley said in a statement. “Being able to add a two-time All-NBA Defensive Team selection who is also a great shooter and fits perfectly with our current philosophy as a multi-positional player. Avery will be a great addition to fortifying our backcourt.”

As we relayed in a separate story, Boston and Charlotte were among the other teams that expressed interest in Bradley before he agreed to sign with Miami.

NOVEMBER 21: The Heat and free agent guard Avery Bradley have agreed to a two-year, $11.6MM deal, agent Charles Briscoe tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The contract will include a team option for the second year, sources tell ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The Heat took a similar route with their new deals for Goran Dragic and Meyers Leonard as they prioritize preserving cap room for 2021.

The Heat will use a portion of their mid-level exception to sign Bradley. The Heat have also agreed to a one-year, $3.6MM contract with Maurice Harkless and Miami could preserve its bi-annual exception by splitting up the MLE between Bradley and Harkless, as John Hollinger of The Athletic tweets.

Bradley was considered a fallback option for the team in case it couldn’t re-sign Jae Crowder, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. While Crowder was a priority for the Heat, he wasn’t comfortable with only a one-year guarantee, says Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). As a result, he’ll head to Phoenix on a three-year deal while the Heat replace him with Bradley.

As Charania explains (via Twitter), Bradley – who was recruited by Heat president Pat Riley and star swingman Jimmy Butler – was sold on the Heat’s culture and made the decision to leave Los Angeles after spending the 2019/20 season with the Lakers.

Bradley, who will turn 30 next Thursday, appeared in 49 games for the Lakers in 2019/20, starting 44 of them. He averaged 8.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG with a solid 3PT% (.364) and strong perimeter defense, but opted out of the restart and wasn’t part of the club’s championship run.

The Warriors were among the other teams that had interest in signing Bradley, tweets Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Dana Gauruder contributed to this story. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agency Rumors: Lakers, Hornets, Pelicans, Baynes, Bazemore

November 20th, 2020 at 4:29pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers anticipate being “first in line” to talk to two of their veteran free agents, Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley, when free agency opens, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Howard and Bradley are expected to draw interest from multiple other clubs, including perhaps the Warriors, but it sounds like L.A. has interest in bringing back both of them. The Lakers and veteran forward Jared Dudley also have mutual interest in a new deal, Scotto adds.

Here’s more from Scotto on free agency:

The Hornets are expected to be in the market for a free agent center, according to Scotto, who notes that the team will likely lose Bismack Biyombo and Willy Hernangomez in free agency.
Scotto echoes a rumor we heard earlier in the week, writing that the Pelicans are expected to show interest in free agent center Aron Baynes.
The Kings and Kent Bazemore are expected to have mutual interest in reaching a new deal, according to Scotto, who notes that the free agent swingman will likely speak with a number of teams once free agency begins.

Avery Bradley Opts Out, Headed To Free Agency

November 19th, 2020 at 4:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers guard Avery Bradley will decline his $5MM option in order to enter unrestricted free agency, Chris Haynes of Yahoo tweets.

Bradley played a prominent role for the eventual champions prior to the restart, appearing in 49 games, including 44 starts. He averaged 8.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 1.3 APG. Bradley opted out of the restart and his minutes were filled by a variety of players.

Had Bradley opted in, his role would likely have diminished due to the addition of Dennis Schroder. The Lakers officially completed their trade for the high-scoring point guard with the Thunder on Wednesday.

There should be some competition for Bradley’s services. Multiple contenders are expected to court Bradley, who recently signed with a new agent.

Avery Bradley To Receive Interest From Warriors, Bucks, Others

November 16th, 2020 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Lakers guard Avery Bradley is expected to be courted by the Warriors, Bucks, and a handful of other contenders, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that those clubs will try to lure Bradley away from L.A.

Although Bradley opted out of the NBA’s summer restart and wasn’t part of the Lakers’ playoff run, he was a key part of the club’s rotation for most of the season, starting 44 of his 49 games. He averaged 8.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG with a .444/.364/.833 shooting line in 24.2 minutes per contest and handled some of the toughest defensive assignments on the perimeter.

Bradley, who recently signed with a new agent, has a player option worth $5MM for 2020/21 and still could technically pick up that option. However, Dave McMenamin of ESPN wrote last night that the 29-year-old is expected to decline his option and reach free agency. If he’s anticipating interest from multiple contending teams, it makes sense that Bradley would go in that direction.

Assuming Bradley opts out, the Lakers would be able to offer a starting salary worth up to about $5.7MM using his Non-Bird rights. If they want to go any higher than that, they’d have to use some or all of their mid-level exception.

Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are also turning down player options for the Lakers this week.

Los Angeles Notes: Bradley, Mannion, DeRozan, Westbrook

November 13th, 2020 at 6:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Avery Bradley, who has a decision to make on his player option, is changing reps and plans to sign with Charles Briscoe, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The Lakers guard, who chose not to play during the restart, can become an unrestricted free agent if he declines the $5MM in the final year of his contract. Bradley averaged 8.6 PPG last season and started 44 of 49 games before play was halted in March. He turns 30 later this month.

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

The Lakers, who hold the No. 28 pick in Wednesday’s draft, worked out University of Arizona point man Nico Mannion on Tuesday in Arizona, Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times tweets. GM Rob Pelinka was among the Lakers’ reps who attended the workout. Mannion, who averaged 14.0 PPG and 5.3 APG as a freshman last season, is currently ranked No. 25 on ESPN’s Best Available list.
The Lakers are reportedly interested in Spurs swingman DeMar DeRozan despite his $27.7MM cap hit and Jordan Greer of Sporting News believes he would be a good fit. DeRozan’s ability as a playmaker would give the Lakers another proven scorer when LeBron James and Anthony Davis aren’t sharing the court. DeRozan’s defensive shortcomings could be masked by a combination of the coaching staff’s schemes and Anthony Davis‘ shot-blocking, Greer adds.
Russell Westbrook would give the Clippers a third star but they shouldn’t pursue a deal for the disgruntled Rockets guard, Jovan Buha of The Athletic opines. Westbrook is a ball-dominant guard whose efficiency has waned in recent seasons, Buha notes. He’s not an off-the-ball threat, as he made just 25.8% of his 3-point attempts last season, allowing defenders to sag off him. Trading for his contract would also force the Clippers to gut their roster to match salaries, Buha said.

And-Ones: Social Justice Board, Boatright, Jazz, Moore

November 9th, 2020 at 8:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Carmelo Anthony, Avery Bradley, Sterling Brown, Donovan Mitchell and Karl-Anthony Towns are the players chosen to serve on the league’s Social Justice Coalition Board, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania (Twitter links).

The NBA and NBPA agreed to create the group to advance equality and social justice after teams walked out of games in late August to protest a police shooting. Commissioner Adam Silver, deputy commissioner Mark Tatum and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts, as well as owners Micky Arison, Steve Ballmer, Clay Bennett, Marc Lasry and Vivek Randadive and coaches Lloyd Pierce and Doc Rivers.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Ryan Boatright has signed with Lithuanian club team BC Rytas Vilnius, the team tweets. Boatright, 28, played in Europe last season after spending time in the G League during the 2018/19 season. The former University of Connecticut guard also played in Italy, China and Turkey.
The sale price of the Jazz bodes well for the league’s franchise valuations, Bill Shea of The Athletic notes. The team, along with an arena and a couple of minor-league teams, were sold to Qualtrics founder Ryan Smith for $1.66 billion, and the league’s owners are expected to approve the sale. The valuation falls in line with expectations and doesn’t reflect any pandemic discount, Shea continues. It also reinforces the notion that team values keep going up.
Former Pacers forward Ben Moore has signed with South East Melbourne Phoenix of Australia’s NBL, according to the team. Moore is expected to join the club for preseason training next month. Moore, who also spent time in the Spurs organization, logged two games with Indiana during the 2017/18 season.

Lakers Notes: Bradley, Davis, LeBron, Offseason

October 14th, 2020 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Having opted out of the NBA’s summer restart, veteran guard Avery Bradley wasn’t on the Lakers‘ active roster when they secured the 17th title in franchise history in Orlando earlier this week. However, Bradley was extremely invested in his team’s playoff run and celebrated the championship at his home in Texas, according to Dave McMenamin and Malika Andrews of ESPN.

“I watched every single game,” Bradley said. “I am still a Laker.”

Bradley has a player option worth $5MM+ for 2020/21, and despite being separated from his teammates for the past several months, he doesn’t sound like someone who’s preparing to move on from the franchise this fall. As McMenamin and Andrews detail, Bradley received FaceTime calls during Sunday’s celebration from multiple members of the Lakers, including general manager Rob Pelinka, who has said the guard will get a championship ring.

“He was just letting me know I am a part of it,” Bradley said. “It has been a long season — and an amazing one. And we’ve been through a lot. It was just an amazing win. You could see it on his face.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

ESPN’s Rachel Nichols (video link) got an exclusive sitdown with LeBron James and Anthony Davis following Sunday’s win and asked the two superstars about their respective futures. However, when pressed about his free agency, Davis offered no more specifics to Nichols than he did to the rest of the media. “We’ll see,” Davis said. With a laugh, James interjected, “Nobody’s talking about that right now.”
As part of his preview of the Lakers’ offseason, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) explores Davis’ impeding free agency and his potential contract scenarios. Marks also takes a look at the possibility of an extension for James and evaluates where things stand for the rest of the roster.
Marks and John Hollinger of The Athletic both believe that a three-year maximum-salary contract with an opt-out after year two might be the most logical option for Davis and the Lakers this fall. That would put Davis in position to earn a higher max (35% of the cap instead of 30%) when he gains 10 years of NBA experience in 2022. It would also ensure he receives an 8% raise in 2021. If he signs one-year contracts for the next two years, he wouldn’t be assured of that raise, since there’s no guarantee the cap (and the maximum salary) will increase in 2021/22.
Earlier this afternoon, we passed along the early odds for the Western Conference in 2020/21. The Lakers, at +275, are considered the favorites for now.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Smith, Bradley, Rondo

July 9th, 2020 at 11:03am CST by Arthur Hill

The stakes are high for LeBron James as the NBA season moves closer to restarting, writes Scott Cacciola of The New York Times. At age 35 and with a fourth championship possibly in reach, the Lakers star will have a chance to significantly add to his legacy.

Teammates say James maintained his leadership role through the nearly four-month hiatus, offering advice on group chats regarding topics such as gyms that were available for workouts and opportunities to speak out about social justice. He also stayed in top physical condition in preparation for a playoff run.

“He’s in the gym early, he’s leaving late and he’s the last guy working — and probably working the longest and the hardest,” Danny Green said. “He hasn’t changed at all, man.”

There’s more Lakers news to pass along:

Veteran guard J.R. Smith, who signed with the Lakers last week, said the coaching staff has given him a clearly defined role, Cacciola adds in the same piece. Smith was instructed to “shoot the ball at a high level” and concentrate on defense, leaving the playmaking duties to others. “It’s fortunate,” he said, “because I’ve never been the guy who was really trying to set up guys.”
Even though Avery Bradley opted out of the restart, he will receive a championship ring if the Lakers win the title, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Bradley, the only player from a serious title contender to pass on playing in Orlando, made the decision because of health concerns involving his six-year-old son. “Will I accept the ring? I’m neither here nor there about it,” he said. “I am 10 years in this league. The physical possession of a ring doesn’t make me feel like more or less of a person. I play basketball strictly for enjoyment and to add to the support of my family. Supporting them is exactly what I’m doing right now.”
Rajon Rondo is sporting an impressive physique in a Lakers practice video that has been circulating on social media, notes Austin Boyd of Heavy. The 34-year-old guard is notably leaner and stronger than when the season was suspended in March.

Lakers’ Avery Bradley Opting Out Of NBA Restart

June 23rd, 2020 at 9:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Lakers guard Avery Bradley is voluntarily opting out of participating in the NBA restart, he tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Although Bradley has been among the players voicing concerns about the resumption of the season drawing attention away from the fight for social justice, Wojnarowski reports that family considerations – including the well-being of his three children – are a primary factor in Bradley’s decision.

According to Woj, Bradley’s six-year-old son has a history of struggling to recover from respiratory illnesses and likely wouldn’t be medically cleared to enter the Orlando bubble after the first round of the playoffs, when family members will be permitted to join players.

“As committed to my Lakers teammates and the organization as I am, I ultimately play basketball for my family,” Bradley told ESPN. “And so, at a time like this, I can’t imagine making any decision that might put my family’s health and well-being at even the slightest risk.

“As promised also, I will use this time away to focus on the formation of projects to help strengthen my communities.”

Bradley becomes the third player known to be opting out of the season’s resumption. However, Davis Bertans and Trevor Ariza – the other two players who have decided not to participate – are on teams currently outside of the playoff picture, while Bradley is a key rotation player for the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed.

Bradley, 29, averaged 8.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG on .444/.364/.833 shooting in 49 games (24.2 MPG) this season, and was considered one of the Lakers’ top perimeter defenders. Now that he’s out of the mix for Orlando, the team may have to lean on guards like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, and Rajon Rondo to play increased roles.

The Lakers will also be eligible to sign a substitute player to replace Bradley, despite not having an open spot on their 15-man roster. Virtually any current free agent is eligible to be signed, as long as he didn’t play in a non-NBA professional league this season.

That substitute player won’t count against L.A.’s cap, though he can only be signed to a minimum-salary, rest-of-season contract and won’t have any form of Bird rights at season’s end, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Bradley will forfeit a portion of his $4.77MM salary by sitting out the summer portion of the season — Wojnarowski estimates the decision will cost the veteran guard approximately $650K. Bradley has a player option for 2020/21 worth just over $5MM.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.