NBA Rumor: Avery Bradley Free Agency

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Lakers head coach Frank Vogel praised Bradley when asked about him by the media. “He’s done a great job for us all year,” he said after the Minnesota game. “A difficult circumstance for him bouncing around early in the season. “He’s a part of what our culture has been the last couple of years. He started with us two years ago. We just talked about a minute ago having two-way players. He sets a great tone for us on the defensive side of the ball and he’s really brought a lot on the offensive side as well.”

Draymond Green, Stephen Curry wanted Warriors to keep Avery Bradley

In releasing Avery Bradley, the Warriors had to thwart the wishes of their best players, according to team sources. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were among a group of strong advocates for keeping Bradley. The almost 31-year-old entering his 12th season didn’t look especially impactful in his preseason run. But those who favored Bradley weren’t at all concerned about how a proven veteran looked in preseason. Instead, they saw Bradley as someone with the credibility to help their hopes for a deep playoff run.

Avery Bradley given impression he'll have real chance to make Warriors roster

Avery Bradley is coming off a couple of down seasons but was one of the league’s stingiest individual defenders earlier in his career, and he’s only 30. He’s been given the impression, per a source, that he will have a real chance to make the roster and, with Thompson out early in the season, there’s a clear path to playing time if he rediscovers his old form, which would catapult him back onto the market next summer.

Avery Bradley expected to decline option

Davis is one of a handful of L.A.’s championship pieces who could test free agency this week. Guards Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Avery Bradley also have player options available that they are expected to decline. JaVale McGee also has a player option worth $4.2 million that he could pick up, considering the market for traditional big men and his fit playing with Davis. Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris are set to become unrestricted free agents.

It’s also not a fait accompli that the Pistons will need to cross that threshold to retain Bradley. Van Gundy, general manager Jeff Bower and associate GM Pat Garrity, the organization’s point man on cap issues, have game planned for multiple scenarios with regard to the cap and roster for next summer. “We’ve got other strategies,” Van Gundy said. “The finances will not inhibit our ability to re-sign Avery at whatever it takes. If we’re in a situation where we want Avery back and Avery wants to be here, we’ll be able to bring him back.”

Sources close to the process believe that Detroit traded for Bradley knowing full well it would be very expensive to retain him beyond this season, however, if he is everything they hope he’ll be, they have no issues paying him. The wrinkle in all of this is the Pistons as a team. If Detroit continues to be middling as they were last season, would it be smarter to trade off Bradley at the trade deadline and get value? The other option is to keep investing in a team that is not appearing to turn the corner.
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May 30, 2023 | 1:29 pm EDT Update

Australian team wants to sign John Wall for next season

South East Melbourne is set to shoot its shot with five-time NBA All Star John Wall in the hope the former Washington Wizard would agree to play for the Phoenix in NBL24. Sources told Code Sports Phoenix powerbrokers have added Wall, who has a minority stake in the club and close ties to majority owner Romi Chaudhary, to their list of potential recruits as they hunt an elite import point guard.
Dante Exum had a huge European season with Partizan Belgrade although, aged just 27, the chances of him returning home are remote. But there is slightly more optimism around Wall, who sat out the 2020-21 NBA season in Houston, before appearing in 34 games with the LA Clippers last campaign. Phoenix boss Tommy Greer did not confirm if the Phoenix planned to approach Wall about spending the NBL24 summer Down Under but said the club would not hesitate if either player was to make themselves available. “If either Dante or John were ready to play in the NBL of course, we would do whatever we could to facilitate that,” Greer said.
Schuyler Callihan: Today’s NBA pre-draft workout participants for the Charlotte #Hornets: G Tyree Appleby (Wake Forest) G Mike Bothwell (Furman) G Courtney Ramey (Arizona) F Chris Livingston (Kentucky) F Nathan Mensah (San Diego State) C Charles Bediako (Alabama)