Could playing Aaron Bradshaw at power forward actually work?

7-foot-1 McDonald’s All-American and incoming Kentucky freshman, Aaron Bradshaw, wants to play the power forward in Lexington. Scuttlebutt around this topic has been around for quite some time with John Calipari hinting he wanted to play two seven-footers in Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso at the same time next season. Bradshaw even talked to Jacob Polacheck for KSR+ about getting some minutes at small forward.

However, Bradshaw confirmed on his Instagram earlier this week, that he does, indeed, want to play the 4. The real question is, will this work?

When Calipari first floated his excitement about the potential to play his two seven-footers at the same time, the collective groan around Big Blue Nation was palpable. The whispers of, “Has he not learned anything about modern basketball?” and, “Is he ever going to evolve his playing style?” were not exactly muted.

However, this could just be a case of Cal telling a recruit what he wants to hear. He famously told Anthony Davis he could play the 2, but later joked that he also told Davis he posts up his 2-guards a lot on offense.

Ultimately, the more I try to picture it, the less I think playing Bradshaw at the 4 would squash Kentucky’s title 2024 aspirations and end basketball as we know it. However, there are some caveats.

What if Oscar Tsiebwe comes back?

First, and more importantly, it is hard to say whether or not any player should play a certain position without even knowing who else is on the roster. Most pertinent to this discussion is whether or not Oscar Tsiebwe will return for a super senior season.

At first, everyone assumed, understandably so, he would leave. That shifted to a draft exploration but keeping the door open for an unlikely return. Now, there are some insiders who firmly believe that barring surprisingly positive feedback from NBA executives, there is growing momentum that Kentucky fans might not have to retire those “RRRRRebounds shirts” just yet.

For the sake of this argument, let’s say Oscar is on the team next year. Then, all of a sudden, Bradshaw at the 4 makes a lot of sense. Tshiebwe is a must-start and more specifically, a must-start down low. Calipari is still going to have to be creative on offense to open driving lanes for his elite guards coming in, but he can’t bench the former national player of the year.

On defense, playing Bradshaw alongside Tshiebwe could help with rim protection that the latter does not provide. Depending on the matchup, Tshiebwe could even guard the opposing team’s power forward and Bradshaw could guard their center, assuming Bradshaw is a better pick-and-roll defender.

On offense, Bradshaw showed at the McDonald’s All-American Game he is capable of knocking down the outside shot, but to put things in more perspective, he only made four 3-pointers in high school games last season. He does his best work playing above the rim, but at the 4, we better settle in for a healthy dose of long 2s. Sure, he can make them, no doubt, but you know…analytics.

What if Oscar Tsiebwe does not come back?

If the original prevailing theory holds up and Tshiebwe departs Lexington on his quest to professional basketball stardom, then the conversation changes quite a bit. If Cal insists on playing Bradshaw at the 4, then this almost certainly elevates either Lance Ware or Onyenso to the starting center position.

Ware has a great motor and will be a leader in the locker room, but he might be better served as a contributor off the bench. Onyenso showed some flashes last year against lesser opponents, but it remains to see how much he will improve to go against more stout competition.

So, while I think there might not be a better rim protection duo in the nation with Onyenso and Bradshaw holding down the paint, it might make things challenging offensively as the two have a very similar playing style, save for Bradshaw’s penchant for shooting jumpers.

I’m sure there will be situations that dictate it no matter who is on the team but why force it?

Assuming the perfect 4 for next year’s team, Chis Livingston, will not be returning (and his announcement message did not sound like someone planning on coming back), the team’s most athletic, get-to-the-rim-and-shoot-3s offensive lineup would be DJ Wagner, Robert Dillingham, Antonio Reeves, Justin Edwards, and Aaron Bradshaw. Those are likely to be the best five players on the team next year and thus, should probably play the most minutes.

However, as one KSBoard member put it, this very well could be the Basketball Benny lineup 2.0 that we don’t see nearly enough.

A case for Aaron Bradshaw at the 4

Admittedly, the majority of my experience watching Aaron Bradshaw play basketball is from YouTube mixtapes and the McDonald’s All-American Game. A lot of this analysis is an extrapolation from that and pure conjecture. However, based on this small sample size, here is one simple reason it might make sense for Bradshaw to play the 4: he weighs 210 pounds.

To that that in perspective, that is how much Daimion Collins weighs and Bradshaw is four inches taller. And we know how skinny Collins is. That type of frame could very well get beat up and pushed around against brutish SEC centers. Bradshaw is long and crafty enough that he could work around this, but I don’t blame him for wanting to mix it up and guard some perimeter players instead.

Is he capable of doing that? It is yet to be seen. If he possesses a Willie Cauley-Stein-like ability to guard 1-5, the defensive potential for this team will be unbelievable. That is a lofty comparison, but from the looks of it, Bradshaw at least has that level of confidence, saying he can be Anthony Davis on offense, Dikembe Mutombo on defense, and Dennis Rodman on the glass.

No matter what position he plays, Cal should be inclined to go power forward shopping in the transfer portal, whether that be for Bradshaw’s backup or to play alongside him if and when he’s at the 5.

Then again, maybe Collins sticks around after all and Cal can play his dream lineup: Collins, Onyenso, Bradshaw, Ware, and Tshiebwe.

Time will tell.