Lakers guard Avery Bradley is expected to be courted by the Warriors, Bucks and a handful of other contenders, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that those clubs will try to lure Bradley away from L.A.
Although Bradley opted out of the NBA’s summer resumption and wasn’t part of the Lakers’ playoff run, he was a key part of the club’s rotation for most of the season, starting 44 of his 49 games. He averaged 8.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG with a .444/.364/.833 shooting line in 24.2 minutes per contest and handled some of the toughest defensive assignments on the perimeter.
Bradley, who recently signed with a new agent, has a player option worth $5M for 2020-21 and still could technically pick up that option. However, Dave McMenamin of ESPN wrote Sunday night that the 29-year-old is expected to decline his option and reach free agency. If he’s anticipating interest from multiple contending teams, it makes sense that Bradley would go in that direction.
Assuming Bradley opts out, the Lakers would be able to offer a starting salary worth up to about $5.7M using his Non-Bird rights. If they want to go any higher than that, they’d have to use some or all of their mid-level exception.
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