Lakers News: Former Celtic Guard Looking To Build Case As Top Defensive Stopper

For the Los Angeles Lakers, the attention has unsurprisingly been on LeBron James and Anthony Davis. With two of the best players in the NBA today, everyone knows that it takes more than the duo to help the purple and gold climb back to success.

The Lakers did assemble a team made up of young and old faces. Among the notable cagers they have for the coming season include Danny Green, Dwight Howard, Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley, Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley. They will be playing second fiddle behind James and Davis, tasked to do their share on both ends.

One of the interesting additions is Bradley. The 28-year-old guard was once a hot commodity when he suited up for the Boston Celtics. However, his career took a different turn when he moved to other teams.

In 2017, the 19th overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft was traded by the Celtics to the Detroit Pistons. He still managed to put up good numbers but ended up being moved roughly six months later to the Los Angeles Clippers. Injuries slowed him down at some point and he subsequently ended up getting traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Despite the fact he showed he could still score, he would be waived by the Grizzlies by season's end. The Lakers picked him up and signed him to a two-year $9.7 million deal, NBA.com reported.

Clearly, the first thing that comes to mind is that the Lakers are hoping to add more firepower with the 6-foot-2 guard. However, it appears Bradley has other things in mind. At the Lakers practice, the 2016 NBA All-Defensive Team member wreaked havoc on the defensive end, hounding anyone he was up against. This includes Rajon Rondo and LeBron James. That performance made him stand out, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Anthony and LeBron look imposing together, that lineup today looked imposing together. We’ve got two of the best players in the world competing together, and all anybody’s talking about is Avery Bradley’s tenaciousness,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel.

Bradley provided a glimpse of things to come, aware that this is a chance he must not waste. It is a big opportunity for him and also a chance to prove that he is one of the league's best perimeter defenders.

“There’s no bigger stage than this. Each and every night, every opportunity I get I’m going to try to prove, to show the world I’m the best perimeter defender in the NBA,” said Bradley.