Denver Nuggets: Why Avery Bradley would be an ideal fit

The Denver Nuggets have pretty much finished their offseason. Assuming P.J. Dozier and Vlatko Cancar are guaranteed before the start of the next league year, the roster is at its maximum of 15 players.

This doesn’t factor in potential invitees to training camp with guard Caleb Agada looking solid in his first few games for the Denver Nuggets’ Summer League team.

But there’s a free agent still out there who would fit seamlessly with this Denver roster and wouldn’t command too much from a salary standpoint: Avery Bradley.

Bradley spent the second half of this past season with the Houston Rockets, averaging 5.2 points and 1.9 assists while hitting 27 percent of his 3-point attempts in 23 minutes a night. No, that doesn’t look great, but he was playing on one of the league’s worst offenses and worst teams in Houston.

At the start of the season, when he was with the Miami Heat, AB shot 42 percent from behind the arc on a similar number of attempts. There’s reason to believe that putting the 30-year-old in a competent offense would bring him back to his Miami level of efficiency.

Bradley recently had his $5.9 million team option declined by the Rockets, entering unrestricted free agency. Outside of a few rumors, Avery hasn’t found himself significantly linked to any teams and he would be a solid pickup for the Denver Nuggets on a veteran’s minimum.

Denver Nuggets: How would Avery Bradley fit?

The Miami Heat signed Avery Bradley in the 2020 offseason as a solid 3-and-D role player who could provide elite defense against guard-sized players while spreading the floor for his teammates.

Miami sent him to Houston as part of the Victor Oladipo trade, a buy-low proposition which, so far, hasn’t paid off. He could play the exact same role for Denver that he played in Miami.

In a Heat uniform, Bradley hit 44 percent of his corner threes, a top-third percentile mark per Cleaning the Glass and 44 percent of his non-corner threes. He knew where he was needed and using the same metric, 56 percent of his attempts came from behind the 3-point line.

When he was on the court, Miami’s effective field goal percent leapt four percent, an elite boost. While it’s hardly because he’s creating better shots for his teammates, his gravity spread the floor on offense, and made life a lot easier for those around him.

Denver are obviously down a guard in Jamal Murray and his shooting would go a long way towards this Denver Nuggets team patching over his absence.

Will Barton and Michael Porter Jr. will go a long way in patching over the perimeter creation Murray brings. Adding Bradley gives Michael Malone a floor-spacing option who he can plug into various lineups.

Denver Nuggets: What’s needed to bring Avery Bradley in?

This is where it gets hard. While Bradley’s number won’t be huge, likely a minimum contract, roster spots become a bit of an issue.

Bradley would have to replace one of Denver’s guaranteed players. The three players on the edge of the roster at the moment are Bol Bol, Cancar, and Dozier.

Bol is currently balling out in Summer League and it bodes well for his future in the NBA if he’s able to dominate at this level. Cancar is one of Nikola Jokic’s best friends on the roster and seemingly untouchable. And finally, P.J. Dozier is the team’s best perimeter defender, adding AB would be a bit of a useless swap if losing Dozier.

It’s hard. In my opinion, adding Bradley this offseason has its benefits, but Bradley clearly isn’t seen as a hot commodity around the league if he has had to wait this long before signing somewhere. If he does sign somewhere this offseason, it’ll likely be on a cheap, one-year deal – the same offer from Denver will still be there next offseason.