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Multiple news outlets are reporting that the Celtics are trading Avery Bradley and a second-round pick to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Marcus Morris.
The Boston Celtics are finalizing a trade to send Avery Bradley to Detroit, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 7, 2017
Sources: Detroit sending forward Marcus Morris to Boston for guard Avery Bradley.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 7, 2017
Celtics trading Avery Bradley and a second-round pick to Detroit for Marcus Morris, source told ESPN.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) July 7, 2017
Bradley was going to be an expensive guy to re-sign next offseason with Isaiah Thomas coming up for a new contract. This deal paves the way for that to happen and balances the roster a little more.
There were other teams in the bidding for Bradley as well. Per Woj:
The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers were aggressive suitors for Bradley in the past 24 hours, league sources said.
Morris is a useful big man that will help the Celtics in the paint. He’s not a very good rebounder, but he is versatile. He is also under a cost-controlled contract for an additional year.
Marcus Morris has an extra year on his contract at $5.35 million. Avery Bradley was, and is, going to get paid next summer.
— Paul Flannery (@Pflanns) July 7, 2017
This moves means that we’ll likely be hanging on to Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart, and Terry Rozier. So the Celtics are moving further and further away from traditional positions. They now have Hayward, Brown, Tatum, Crowder, and Morris (and perhaps Yabusele), all of whom can play multiple wing or swing positions on the court. That should be interesting.
All of us at CelticsBlog sincerely wish Avery Bradley all the best in the world. I have a feeling the Pistons fans are going to love him.