Avery Bradley agrees to re-sign for 4 years, $32 mil

Celtics have agreed to terms with restricted free agent Avery Bradley, according to source.

— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) July 2, 2014

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Can confirm that the #Celtics & RFA Avery Bradley have agreed to a deal. Terms: 4-year-deal worth $32 million.

— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) July 2, 2014

There is some mixed reaction to this signing so far on Twitter, but I think this is ultimately a good deal when you consider we’re talking about a 23 year-old who is considered by many to be the league’s best-on ball defender… and oh by the way he shot 40% from 3 last season.

The big drawback, of course, is his injury history.  The only caveat to that, I’d say, is that none of his injuries is chronic.  Many have been a result of bad luck that can happen to anyone.  Still, they keep happening to him, so four years of it does cause some level of concern.

But the market spoke the previous day when Jodie Meeks agreed to sign for three years at nearly $7 million per year.  Bradley’s contract falls in line with that, so we can forget about those ideas of him taking $6 million or less.  There were already reports that Bradley was going to command up to $9 million.  And even though that could simply have been information planted by Bradley’s agent, I don’t think it was really out of whack.  The Celtics paid market value for a familiar player with an extraordinary skill.  That’s the bottom line.

Now… as for the draft and the glut of guards…

We’ll have to wait and see what that means.  You could easily just say Jerryd Bayless is gone and Marcus Smart fills that role.  Interest in Isaiah Thomas is intriguing, and a little perplexing, but the fact that the Celtics called 29 other guys takes the edge off any specific plans Ainge might have for the Rajon Rondo/Avery Bradley back court.

Remember, teams can’t official start doing business until the July moratorium is over on the 10th, so this is really just the beginning.  I like that Avery is back and I think that this is a good deal.  It’s not a great deal or a “wow” deal.  It’s just paying a guy what the market determined he was worth.