Doc Rivers Expects Avery Bradley to Return in January

Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers is preparing himself for life without Avery Bradley. According to Doc, Avery — who underwent offseason surgeries on both shoulders — might not return to the court until January. From ESPN: “Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley is ‘nowhere near ready’ to participate in the team’s training camp, which opens on Friday, coach Doc Rivers said. ‘Not even close,’ Rivers said. ‘I don’t like to put a time limit on injuries, but I don’t think you’ll see him before December — and there’s a chance it could be closer to January.’ The 21-year-old Bradley gamely tried to fight through a series of dislocations of his left shoulder, but finally had to be shut down during the playoffs and had the left shoulder surgically repaired. He later had his right shoulder repaired in early July. [...] ‘For any athlete, especially me being a young athlete, it’s hard for me to not to be able to wake up every day and play the game of basketball,’ Bradley said. ‘It’s hard for me. I just have to take it day by day and let my body heal itself.’ The emergence of Bradley last season is one of the reasons Rivers felt comfortable moving veteran Ray Allen to the second unit to provide some pop off the bench.”