How well has Tony Bradley performed for the Utah Jazz in the first half of the 2019-20 NBA season?
It’s been quite the season for Tony Bradley as a member of the Utah Jazz. Before the season started I assumed Bradley would get little to no minutes during the regular season.
Rudy Gobert and Ed Davis were supposed to eat up all of the minutes at the center position, and barring an injury I didn’t see any playing time available for Bradley.
Then on the first of November, Ed Davis suffered a leg injury. It was later confirmed it was a small fracture, and that Davis would be out for a few weeks. To say that Bradley took advantage of the increased playing time is an overstatement in my mind.
His play in Ed Davis’ absence reminded me why he was drafted as a “project”, and spent the majority of the past two years in the G-League. His footwork was cringe-worthy at best, and he didn’t know how to control his body, especially on defense.
In Utah’s double-header against the Minnesota Timberwolves in November, Bradley was benched by Quin Snyder in both games and the Jazz rolled with Jeff Green as the backup center.
He was often the main scapegoat of the Jazz’s poor bench play. Whenever Rudy Gobert needed to take a rest, fans would watch the lead get whittle down and even turn into deficits before Gobert checked back in.
Luckily for Bradley, he was able to survive the Jazz’s transactions before the Christmas break. He was linked in a lot of proposed trade ideas to be sent with Dante Exum to bring in a fresh face. Instead, the Jazz traded Exum with future picks, and waived Green.
Ed Davis had a rough transition back from his injury and didn’t fit in offensively at all. On December 28th against the Los Angeles Clippers, Bradley was re-inserted as the backup center and has held down the position ever since.
Let’s grade Bradley’s first half performance, starting with his natural forte.