Is there a possibility that Avery Bradley returns from a right hamstring injury sooner than expected?
In between his ears, maybe.
In real life, no.
The Boston Celtics won’t let him if it comes to that—specifically, president Danny Ainge won’t let him, per Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com:
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge hinted that Avery Bradley suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain in Game 1 and dubbed him a “long shot” to play again in the first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks. During his weekly call to Boston sports radio 98.5, Ainge said, “Avery is so critical, such a critical piece of our future, I’m certainly not going to allow Avery to go out at less than 100 percent. … I know Avery is fighting at the bit; he would try to pay under any circumstance if he could run. I will prevent and intervene there to keep Avery from jeopardizing himself and making sure he doesn’t make a bad decision.” Ainge did not that the injury is, “not as bad as it could have been, he’s much better, but I think it’s a long shot that Avery will be back in this series.”
Pretty easy decision here.
Boston’s offense clearly needs Bradley. It was a mess without him during the Game 2 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Advanced analytics don’t always love him, but Bradley is important for his threat level alone. He spaces the floor with his three-point touch, which makes life easier on Isaiah Thomas, who is at his best when he can freely terrorize defenses off the dribble.
But rushing Bradley back makes no sense. He is still just 25 and two years left on his deal. This is the first round of the playoffs. During a season in which the Celtics won’t be winning a title.
There is no point to jeopardizing the long-term outlook for the chance to maybe, quite possibly, against all odds, erase the 2-0 series deficit the Hawks have put the Celtics in.
