Avery Bradley has a good chance of returning from injury and taking back his starting position – NBA News
Avery Bradley was a great find for the Boston Celtics last season, playing so well in the absence of regular starting shooting guard Ray Allen that when the veteran returned from his ankle injury, Celtics coach Doc Rivers brought
Allen off the bench and kept Bradley in the starting five.
He seemed to have instantly formed an on court chemistry with Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, and together the two seemed to have the back court of the Celtics locked for the future. It is one of the reasons why Allen went to
the Miami Heat in the offseason, and one of the reasons why the Celtics were not worried much by his departure.
However, Bradley will not be available for the Boston Celtics during training camp as well as the start of the regular season. Bradley underwent shoulder surgery during the summer, and a timeline for his return to action has not
yet been disclosed.
This would mean that recently acquired shooting guard Courtney Lee would start at the two for the Celtics next season. With Lee playing with the Celtics roster through training camp, there is a chance that Bradley might lose out
on his starting spot in the team.
Sherrod Blakely at CSNNE.com thinks otherwise.
“While Lee is a solid defender, he doesn’t have the defensive game-changing ability that Bradley showcased when healthy last season. And then there’s the fact that Bradley has earned the right to, at the very least, pick up where
he left off prior to the shoulder injuries. During Rondo’s strong play in the regular season, the C’s would often have Bradley defend the opposing team’s top guard. That took some of the defensive workload off Rondo’s shoulders, which in turn helped him and
the C’s offensively,” says Blakely.
For the Celtics, it is all about defence. And Bradley has excelled in that department during his time with the franchise. Last season, when Rondo was dominating the offence and running the show for the Celtics, Bradley would sometimes
take over the responsibility of guarding the point guard of the opposing team, enabling Rondo to save some energy for the offence.
Hence, the ability of Bradley to play in different positions and defend well, combined with his on court chemistry with Rondo give Bradley a pretty good chance of returning from injury to take back his starting position.