Lakers officially sign Avery Bradley

The Los Angeles Lakers officially announced they signed Avery Bradley, fresh off a promising stint with the Memphis Grizzlies after having been fairly disappointing over the last few years since being traded by the Boston Celtics. Bradley brings the Lakers roster to 13 total players (which gets pushed to 14 whenever Talen Horton-Tucker signs his rookie contract).

Their offered up the news on their official Twitter account and Lakers.com:

Bradley owns career averages of 12.0 points (.436 FG%, .364 3P%), 3.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal in 522 games (449 starts) for the Celtics, Pistons, Clippers and Grizzlies. In 63 games for the Clippers and Grizzlies last season, Bradley notched 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 30.2 minutes. He played in 39 career playoff games for Boston, notching 12.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals in 32.1 minutes.

With reports surfacing today that LeBron James will be starting at point guard, it will be interesting to see whether Bradley serves as the primary defender of opposing lead guards. James is always the de facto point guard whenever he’s on the court, but being able to defend at the point of attack is crucial, and there are very fair concerns about this approach to lineup building.

Bradley is a tad overrated a defender based on his recent performances in his last couple spots, but if used properly, he could provide value in that regard.

As a shooter, he has been insanely up-and-down. Just last year, his three-point shooting jumped from 34 percent with the Clippers to 38 percent with the Grizzlies. He’ll need to be a lot closer to the shooter he was in Memphis than he was as a Clipper in order to fill a need for the Lakers.

One could make the case that Bradley is overpaid at two-years, $9.7 million, but if he regains some of the form we saw from him in Boston, then this could be a very solid signing for the Lakers’ penultimate roster spot.

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