On this day in 2017, Boston Celtics veteran combo guard Avery Bradley was traded with draft assets to the Detroit Pistons for power forward Marcus Morris.
Avery, a 6-foot-3, 180 lb. native of Tacoma, Washington, was drafted by the Celtics out of the University of Texas with the 19th overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft.
The former Longhorn quickly made a name for himself as one of the league’s best man-to-man defenders while coming up with the aging core of the 2008 title team, and outlasted the teardown of the Banner 17 squad only to be dealt in order to make cap space to sign forward Gordon Hayward.
In total, the Texas product played for the team for seven seasons, averaging 12.1 points, 3.1 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game while with the team.
It is also the date of two frontcourt signings for the Celtics. The first was the signing of big man Kelly Olynyk, who signed his rookie deal with Boston on this date in 2013.
Olynyk, a product of Gonzaga and native of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, was traded to the Celtics immediately after being drafted 13th overall by the Dallas Mavericks.
He would play four seasons with Boston before leaving the team in free agency (also on July 7th) for the Miami Heat in 2017. He logged 9.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game with the Celtics.
The second was the signing of former UConn standout Travis Knight, a 7-foot center signed as a free agent by team president and head coach Rick Pitino.
The signing was controversial, as his $22 million, seven-year deal required giving up the rights to all of the Celtics’ pending free agents, including Frank Brickowski, Marty Conlon, Todd Day, Nate Driggers, Rick Fox, Steve Hamer, Michael Hawkins, Alton Lister, and Brett Szabo.
He would play just one season with Boston, having been dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for big man Tony Battie. He put up 6.5 points and 4.9 boards while in the green and white.
Today is the birthday of former Celtic guard Jim Barnett, who was drafted by the team out of Oregon with the eighth overall pick of the 1966 NBA Draft.
He would play one season for Boston before being drafted by the San Diego Rockets in the 1967 NBA Expansion Draft, averaging 4.1 points and 1.1 boards per game.
Ex-Boston guard John Simmons was also born today, a member of the inaugural season of the franchise in the 1946-47 Basketball Association of America (a precursor of the NBA) season, it’s first as well.
Simmons, a product of NYU, averaged 5.3 points over his 60 games with the team.
