‘Crazy’ to think Bradley’s with another new team
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
It’s almost funny, when Avery Bradley thinks about it.
After forming an important part of the Celtics’ core last season, and getting dealt away during the summer, he, Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder were all traded again in the maelstrom leading up to last Thursday’s league trade deadline.
Now Bradley is back with his first NBA coach, Doc Rivers. The two are paired up again with the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Yeah, it’s crazy, but again it’s part of the business, man,” Bradley said before the Clippers beat the Celtics, 129-119, last night at the Garden. “Obviously that’s the focus right now because we were all here, but it happens to a lot of guys and all you can do is appreciate every situation that you’re in and move forward and try to make the best out of the next situation that you’re in.”
Bradley also seems to have emerged without transaction whiplash.
“Umm, you know what? I think the hardest was the first time, moving to Detroit,” he said of last summer’s C’s swap with the Pistons for Marcus Morris. “But the second time it was just like, ‘OK, this is part of the business. This is how it goes. I just need to get my helmet, get my lunch pail, and get ready for the next team.’ That was my mindset, right when I got to Clippers I was ready to work. First practice we brought it, we were competing.”
Time to be Smart
When Marcus Smart appeared on the court after Tuesday’s practice in Waltham, freely shooting with his healing right hand, Celtics management knew it didn’t have to wait much longer for his return.
Smart missed his 11th game last night since suffering a 20-stitch gash while punching a hotel picture frame in Los Angeles between games against the Lakers and Clippers. A year earlier, he had punched a hole in the locker room wall.
There’s always been a fine line between passion and anger with Smart, but according to coach Brad Stevens, it’s about time he learned how to harness his emotions.
“You have to be able to manage that,” Stevens said yesterday. “I think there’s plenty of examples of that and it’s part of his growth process, but he’ll grow in that area. But you have to be able to manage that.”
Stevens would only say that the matter was handled “internally” when asked if the team decided to discipline Smart.
“We talked,” Stevens said. “We all had our own individual conversations and that will continue. Collectively we said the same thing we’ve said publicly. Ultimately we need Marcus to be really good for us, and to not be available the last couple of weeks put everyone else in a tough spot. But we’ve moved on from that and we’re looking forward to getting him back next week.
“We clearly need him on our team, and the other part is having another ballhandler, whether Shane (Larkin) or Marcus, helps take the load off of Terry (Rozier) and Kyrie (Irving).
Most encouraging, according to Stevens, is that Smart is expected to be ready to participate in practice when the Celtics regroup in Waltham following this weekend’s AllStar break.
“He’ll be ready to practice full on Wednesday. That’s what the doctors think,” Stevens said.