Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the players on the 2019-2020 roster (10-6)
By Ethan Temkin
10. Avery Bradley
At one point Avery Bradley was one of the league’s best guard defenders. However, injuries have hampered Bradley, and he seems to have fallen off in recent years.
After a brief stint with the Clippers where he drastically underperformed relative to expectations, Bradley was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies where he had a slight resurgence, averaging 16.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and four assists in the final 16 games of the season.
The Lakers are hoping Bradley can build on that promising end to last season and get back to the elite defensive talent he once was, which I think Bradley is fully capable of doing. His role on the Lakers will not be a large one as there are a number of guards ahead of him in the rotation, but playing in limited minutes might be the best thing for Bradley.
Even with all of his troubles, he’s still a reliable guard defender, albeit not quite at the level he was when he was selected to First Team All-Defense team back in 2015-2016. In addition, even with all of his troubles offensively, Bradley’s 3-point percentage never dipped below 34 percent these last three seasons, which means he can space the floor while being a plus defender.
Bradley may very well be one of the x-factors for the Lakers this season and has the potential to jump higher on this list should he return to his elite defensive self. But, we need to wait and see if he can perform on a consistent basis, and for that reason, he comes in at the No. 10 spot.