Free agency preview: Bradley brings value, but can Suns get him for value?

In an alternate universe, Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge doesn’t have such an affinity for hybrid forwards and does have a little more love for his own guys.

That world doesn’t see him trade fan-favorite and key contributor Avery Bradley to the Detroit Pistons for Marcus Morris a summer ago. That world sees Bradley play out his contract with Boston alongside either Kyrie Irving or Isaiah Thomas as the perfect secondary ball handler and defensive menace in the backcourt.

In that world, Bradley’s value is probably pretty high when he hits unrestricted free agency in 2018.

Of course, none of that happened. Ainge foresaw guard Terry Rozier’s rise before the Celtics’ playoff run and already had an upcoming decision to make with restricted free agent Marcus Smart, a player in the similar mold as Bradley. So in July 2017, Bradley was shipped to Detroit and went under the radar in 40 games before being traded in the Blake Griffin blockbuster only to play six more games with the Los Angeles Clippers.

A core injury that required surgery shut Bradley down in mid-March, and he enters free agency without the bluster he probably would have if he remained in Boston.

The Phoenix Suns just might benefit from that story arc.

In March, they already had interest in pursuing him in free agency, according to 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s John Gambadoro. And in what Phoenix general manager Ryan McDonough believes is a buyers’ market already, it could be enough for the Suns to nab a key piece as they look to compete for a playoff spot next season.

Phoenix can open upward of $15 million in cap space by a combination of waiving nonguaranteed contracts or renouncing the rights to free agents Alex Len and Elfrid Payton, and that should be enough to ink at least one impact contributor.

Bradley fits in the team’s wheelhouse perfectly. Even in 40 games with Detroit in 2017-18, he remained one of the best perimeter isolation defenders in the NBA. Per Second Spectrum, he allowed 0.55 points per chance to opponents in isolation situations to lead NBA guards.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound pest averaged 15 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 31.7 minutes per game, and while his shooting percentage (41) fell off playing in a clunky Detroit system, he still brought value as a spot-up shooter, hitting 38 percent from deep on 4.9 attempts per outing.

The 27-year-old has consistently been good enough to space the floor throughout his career (37 percent from three in seven NBA seasons), and while he’s not an off-the-bounce playmaker, maybe that’s not needed to contribute in a significant way for the Suns.

First-year Phoenix coach Igor Kokoskov’s teams of late — whether it’s the Slovenian national team or the Utah Jazz — haven’t utilized ball-dominant ball handlers in a traditional manner, and in that respect, Bradley would fit well if the Suns put the ball into the hands of Devin Booker, Brandon Knight and Josh Jackson when it comes to managing most ball screens.

Bradley would supplement the point guard depth alongside the score-first Knight. Which one of them starts seems less important than the versatility Bradley would bring.

Like Smart, who could be a more pricey target with a much more questionable jump shot, Bradley has the ability to not only defend the best perimeter opponents but also to switch onto bigger players.

He’s older and with less upside than Smart, but that along with his recent injury problems could make him a more reasonable free agent target for Phoenix.

The Suns wanted to target point guards and power forwards who can defend and shoot in this free agent class. And more than any other reasonable target who could be on the market — so not Paul George or LeBron James — Bradley is one of only a handful that slot into both those needs.

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