It seemed during Danny Ainge's tenure as the Boston Celtics president of basketball operations, especially over the latter half of it, that he overvalued his team's assets.
While that may just only be perception, there might be a hint of truth to it after one NBA writer believed a former Celtic was among the most overrated players in the NBA over the last 10 years.
Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey put Avery Bradley on his five-player list, specifically noting how the defensive reputation that followed Bradley, who earned All-Defensive honors twice in his 12-year NBA career, might be a mirage.
"Bradley's last All-Defensive selection came in 2016, and he's seemingly been riding that reputation ever since," Bailey wrote. "Throughout his career, his teams have generally surrendered more points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor."
Bradley's never been known as a top-tier offensive playmaker, so having a hole poked through how he performs defensively, which admittedly isn't always the easiest to quantify, does bring him down a slight notch.
Maybe a more telling sign about how Bradley is viewed around the league these days is how many teams he has played for since being traded by the Celtics in July of 2017. After spending seven seasons in Boston, Bradley has played for six other teams, including two separate stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, over the last five seasons.
That's an indication that teams see Bradley as a replaceable piece and that they have no problem saying goodbye to the guard. Bradley also was cut by the Golden State Warriors last year before ending up back with the dysfunctional Lakers, where he started in 45 games while totaling 6.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.
Teams around the league also aren't in a hurry to scoop up the 31-year-old for the upcoming season as he's still on the free agent market.
It's important to note that just because Bradley could be seen as an overrated player from the last decade, doesn't mean he was terrible. He was serviceable, but clearly was just another guy that teams could easily replace.
But surely, this wouldn't be the first time Green Teamers have seen a player on the Celtics for more than what he is.
