Los Angeles Lakers: Which players will improve the most next season?
Avery Bradley
Avery Bradley has struggled on defense over the last three seasons, allowing his assignment to score an average of 111 points per 100 possessions during that time.
Conversely, throughout Bradley’s first six seasons in the NBA, he permitted his man to score an average of 105 points per 100 possessions.
That six-point variance is the difference between being one of the best defensive point guards in the NBA, and becoming a basketball nomad incapable of sticking to a team for more than a season.
Avery Bradley played mostly point guard throughout his early days in the association and during that time he built up the reputation of a player who had the non-stop motor and foot speed necessary to slow down the variety of multi-talented 1’s who make their living, embarrassing defenders.
Over the last three years, Bradley’s status as an elite ball hawk has eroded into nothing, but his struggles haven’t been his fault. As Bradley’s roamed from team to team, he’s been asked to play shooting guard and sometimes even small forward.
During Bradley’s tour through the NBA, his various coaches have cast him as a 3-and-D wing. However, at 6′ 2″, he’s too small to stop bulky shooting guards and small forwards from either driving down the lane or shooting unmolested pull-up jumpers.
At the same time, he’s not a skilled enough playmaker or passer to run a team’s offense as the starting point guard.
Over the last three seasons Bradley’s been stuck in no-man’ s-land as a player.
That’s going to change next season because fit is everything in the NBA. Bradley excelled on the Celtics because it was a good match. Boston needed the skill set that Avery possesses as a point guard, and he flourished.
The Lakers are also desperate for a point guard who owns the same abilities that course through Bradley’s body. LA doesn’t need a playmaking point guard, because LeBron James is going to run the offense. Instead the Purple and Gold must have a PG who can defend opposing 1’s and who can spread the floor by shooting well from deep.
Next year Bradley will start as the Lakers point guard, which will allow him to morph back into the 3-and-D point guard that he played as while in Boston. During the 2019-2020 season Bradley will lock down opposing 1’s, and he’ll shoot at least 39% from deep.