Philadelphia 76ers: Goodbye and farewell Tony Bradley

For a little over a week, Tony Bradley was “the man” for the Philadelphia 76ers. He was earning starts over guaranteed Hall of Famer Dwight Howard – though that’s another story for a different time – getting huge pops from the limited audience in attendance at the Wells Fargo Center and even generating social media love from none other than Joel Embiid, who suggested that the Sixers should simply “build around Tony Bradley” moving forward.

While no one really thought that should be the case, as Embiid is eons better than 95 percent of the centers in the NBA and Bradley has only started 11 games as a pro, the fun-level of a team attempting to weather the loss of their best players was shockingly high, and the idea of the duo forming a dynamic one-two punch for the foreseeable future was becoming incredibly enticing.

With Bradley’s Bird Rights in hand, the Sixers would surely secure the former UNC Tarheel’s services for years to come, on a deal worth something like $60 million over four years, and have a viable, high-upside player who could play now and serve as a trade chip down the line… only, that isn’t what happened.

No, apparently Daryl Morey didn’t think as highly about Bradley’s future in Philly as some overly eager fans, as he opted to trade the fourth-year center, alongside Vincent Poirier, Terrance Ferguson, and a pair of future seconds in a three-team trade that gave the 76ers George Hill from the OKC Thunder and Ignas Brazdeikis from the New York Knicks.

Free from the Philadelphia 76ers, maybe Tony Bradley can actually play.

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If the Philadelphia 76ers’ Tuesday night win over the Golden State Warriors truly goes down as Tony Bradley’s final game in a red, white, blue, and occasionally cream jersey, at least he can say he turned in a perfect game.

Logging a season-high 32:56 minutes, Bradley scored 18 points and 11 rebounds on a perfect 8-8 shooting from the field and 2-2 from the free-throw line. He showcased a silky-smooth touch, sound fundamentals, and an impressive feel for the game that Philly fans probably took for granted from a third-string center.

When Bradley exited the court in the waning moments of a win that was a bit more “exciting” than it should have been, he was congratulated by all of his teammates in attendance for a job well done.

In a weird twist of fate, those well-wishes now feel like farewells when re-watched in context.

But honestly, it’s cool. While the idea of keeping Bradley became more and more enticing with each passing start, the 23-year-old was never going to break the Sixers’ playoff rotation no matter how well he played in Embiid’s absence and swapping him out for a grizzled veteran like George Hill unquestionably makes the Sixers a better team right now.

With Bradley now gone, the Sixers will be able to give more minutes to “BBall” Paul Reed, who will surely have his contract converted to a full-on NBA deal considering the team’s open roster spots, and may even find creative ways to re-insert Ben Simmons-at-center lineups into their bag of tricks with Hill running the point at the one.

And as for Bradley? Well, he now gets an opportunity to earn consistent, meaningful minutes for an OKC Thunder team that only has Al Horford, Moses Brown, and Mike Muscala on their depth chart at the five.

Say what you will about the Thunder’s current tanking ways, but the team has been incredibly generous when it comes to giving young guys minutes, and as a result, they’ve found a few solid pieces who should remain with the team for years to come. There were serious questions about players like Lu Dort, Darius Bazley, Ty Jerome, and Isaiah Roby when they initially arrived in OKC, and all four have far exceeded initial expectations due to a steady stream of playing time.

Assuming Bradley continues his starting ways as a member of the Thunder, he too very well could become the next beneficiary of an OKC glow-up, even if it results in getting traded to the Detroit Pistons a la Hamidou Diallo in a sign-and-trade this offseason.

Huh, I sort of remember someone suggesting such a scenario not too long ago…

So Tony Bradley, thanks for putting in work in Joel Embiid’s absence. While you won’t get to revel in the Philadelphia 76ers’ success if they ultimately pull this season out and secure the chip for this first time this century, it must be nice to know that Embiid and the rest of the City of Brotherly Love have your back moving forward.