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Summary

After struggling in his most recent stops with the Pistons, Clippers, and Grizzlies, Bradley has played well for the Lakers, even starting a majority of their games. Bradley has benefited from taking fewer midrange shots, and hitting threes at a higher rate than recent seasons. Bradley's efG% is his highest since the '16-'17 season, and the second highest of his career, per Cleaning the Glass.

 

Bradley no longer has the reputation of a shutdown on-ball defender, but he has contributed to the Lakers' great defense as the primary defender of the opposing team's point guard. A year ago, I did not expect Bradley to play well enough to justify him opting out this offseason, but it now looks like that is the likely scenario. Bradley's decision to opt out of the Orlando bubble probably makes him more likely to opt in, but I think there will still be enough of a market for him to make it worth it to opt out.

Cap Considerations

Bradley has a $5 million player option for next season, and if he declines that option he will be an unrestricted free agent with a $5.7 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. If Bradley opts for free agency, the Lakers will be limited in their means of re-signing him.

 

Since they will only have his non-Bird Rights, the most they could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is a contract starting at $5.7 million. However, the Lakers could use their Mid-Level Exception to re-sign Bradley if his market is higher than $5.7 million. The Lakers will likely have the full $9.3 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception available, which they could use all or part of to re-sign Bradley.

 

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Bradley as even teams without cap space could possibly use either of the Non-Taxpayer or Taxpayer Mid-Level Exceptions to sign him.

Potential Teams: Lakers, 76ers, Spurs, Warriors, Magic

Predicted Contract: 2-year, $12 million with the Lakers

Actual Contract: 2-year, $11.6 million (2nd year team option) with the Heat

Bradley got similar money to what I expected, and the Heat predictably gave him a team option for the 2nd year in order to maintain flexibility for the summer of 2021.

Last updated: 12/31/2020

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