Brandon Bass settling well in Boston Celtics camp; Looking to stay put in the free agency: NBA News
Brandon Bass has seen resurgence in his career ever since he was traded to the Boston Celtics. The 6 feet 8 inch Power Forward was a 2nd round pick by the Hornets in 2005.
He was in his sophomore year then and decided to enter the NBA draft. Bass signed a contract with the Orlando Magic in 2009 and under Stan Van Gundy, went through some rigorous training to improve his jump shot. Today, Bass is
one of the best shooting big men in the league.
In December 2011, the Celtics traded Glen Davis to the Orlando Magic and added Bass in their roster. Since then, Bass has become a regular starter in the Celtics team. In his first game for the Celtics, Bass scored 20 points and
grabbed 11 rebounds, showing signs that he was finally where he wanted to be.
The Celtic team provided Bass with an opportunity to grow as a player and Doc Rivers gave him a great deal of confidence.
“I’m grateful for it, man, because I’m getting an opportunity here to grow as a player in this league. And it’s something I always wanted since my first year, just be able to develop and grow. Here I’m able to grow at a faster
rate and I hope I continue because I feel like I got a bunch of different things that I haven’t shown that I could to help the team in certain areas’’ said Bass after the match against the Bobcats in which he scored 22 points.
With the arrival and subsequent success of Bass in the Boston team, Doc Rivers has been more than happy to move Bass into a starting power forward role and shift veteran Kevin Garnett to centre position, one which the C’s were
struggling on after the season ending injuries to Jermaine o’ Neal and Chris Wilcox. Bass has helped balance this team and become more effective.
“Brandon is the unknown guy, He just keeps doing the exact same thing. He rebounds and he makes shots’’ said coach Doc Rivers.
This season, Bass is averaging 12.8 points and 6.1 rebounds with the Celtics, a considerable improvement from his career average of 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds. He is also playing increased minutes per game this season after being
promoted to a starter. The fact that he has made the transition to a new team so quickly and then adjusted to his new role with new team mates show that Bass is finally where he wants to be in his career and is very comfortable in the Celtics jersey.
Bass will become an unrestricted free agent this summer which could become a worry for the Celtics after such an improvement in his game this season. However, Bass has openly expressed his desire to stay at Boston for the near
future, saying that he would like to stay in the Celtics camp for a long time and play besides somebody like Rajon Rondo.
“I want to be here a long time playing alongside Rondo,’’ he said. “[But] to be honest, I am not that type of guy to even be thinking about things like [the option] because I just try to get better every day.’’
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