Avery Bradley has new fans in Heat locker room, fond memories of Celtics
Among the keys in adding talent on a short-term contract during a compressed offseason is that the newcomer is plug-and-play. So Erik Spoelstra has plugged Avery Bradley into the Miami Heat system and the play of the veteran point guard has provided immediate payoff.
The Heat prefer more 3-pointer attempts than his typical diet of midrange jumpers? So be it. Spoelstra setting the role as defensive pest in reserve? Challenge accepted.
No, this is nothing like the methodical path Bradley took over the first seven years of his NBA career with the Boston Celtics, the Heat’s Wednesday night opponent at AmericanAirlines Arena. But two weeks into his Heat tenure, it has proved to be a quality fit.
“I’m not trying to reinvent him,” Spoelstra said ahead of Wednesday’s nationally televised game. “He’s been a great shooter, really for the last several years. And I think our offense appealed to him, because it allows him just to be who he is, as a cutter, a guy that can move without the ball, a guy that can come off handoffs. And he’s a great spot-up shooter, when he plays on a team when the ball moves and it’ll find the open guy.
“That’s one of the reasons why we liked him, too. We thought not only defensively could he really help us, but offensively he fits.”
Then there is the end where Bradley sets his own tone.
“It didn’t take us very long, in our practices, to all recognize, that, ‘Ah, OK, that’s exactly what an All-Defensive player looks like,’ " Spoelstra said, putting Bradley in the class of teammates Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. “We have three of ‘em on our team. We’ve had ‘em previously.
“He does it in a different way, with his tenacity, his ability to get under you and speed you up. And I think that’s the part of his defensive greatness, is his ability to defend bigger players and use his speed, quickness, technique, to really be a nuisance.”
For his part, particularly on the offensive end, the 30-year-old veteran said he’s going with the Heat’s and NBA’s flow when it comes to shooting more often from deep.
“I think it’s a product of being in a new offense. Not only that, it’s a new NBA,” he said. “So I’m just trying to take advantage of every opportunity that I get and make sure that I’m ready at all times. Right now, those opportunities have been corner threes, there have been cutting opportunities, and making plays in transition.”
Caught in the Celtics’ salary-cap squeeze to sign since-departed Gordon Hayward (as current Heat teammate Kelly Olynyk was), Bradley was dealt by the Celtics to the Detroit Pistons in the 2017 offseason, later moving on to the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers.
But an affection remains for his first franchise and for Boston coach Brad Stevens.
“I mean, that’s my home. Being there for seven years, they’re still always going to mean something to me,” he said.
“Once Brad got there, it was similar to the philosophy here: taking advantage of every opportunity, next guy up, be aggressive, no shot is a bad shot. He fueled every single guy with confidence. This league is built off of confidence and opportunity, and Brad really helped every single person on that team.”
Now it is Bradley, who signed a two-year contract with the Heat this offseason that includes a Heat option for next season, who is earning his own fans, in the Heat locker room.
“He’s a Heat guy,” Adebayo said. “You know that by looking at Avery and his reputation. But talking to Avery, he’s such a down-to-earth dude. He stresses himself out sometimes trying to do the right thing all the time and every time he steps out on the court. I can be a teammate with a guy like that.
“But he’s down to earth. He wants to win. He wants to figure out the best ways to put us in a position to win. He wants to guard whoever he has to, to give us a chance to win. I feel like he can be first-team All-Defense.”
