Stan Van Gundy is confident newly-acquired defensive ace Avery Bradley is here to stay. After acquiring the three-and-D talent from the Boston Celtics earlier this summer in exchange for Marcus Morris, the Detroit Pistons will have to look make a sound offer for one of the elite one-on-one defenders in the league and an improved offensive talent, who is putting up 16.8 points per game.
“I’ll take our chances in the offseason. I’m just happy we have him right now,” said Van Gundy, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “He knew right from the time we got him that we made the move thinking it would be a long-term thing but he knows it’s not something we’re going to talk to him at all about during the season.”
Bradley has been a pleasant surprise in exchange of their former three-and-D shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, whose rights they renounced after acquiring Bradley from the Celtics. The former Texas Longhorn is putting up a career-high in points, while shooting a blistering 42.5 percent from deep, and a crisp 80 percent from the free-throw line.
His 1.4 steals per game are a whisker shy of his career-high, fitting in at both ends of the floor as a stout plug-and-play option for the Motor City.
