Malcolm Brogdon: ‘It’s a testament to the Boston Celtics and how much they want to win, they are willing to spend and have a guy making $20 million come off the bench as a sixth man and help them win a championship’

Malcolm Brogdon lauded his new employer following his trade from the Indiana Pacers being made official Sunday, saying “It’s a testament to the Boston Celtics and how much they want to win, they are willing to spend and have a guy making $20 million come off the bench as a sixth man and help them win a championship”, during an appearance on The Woj Pod Show (h/t MassLive).

Brogdon was acquired on the cheap for the Cs. Boston’s front office got away with giving up just Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan, and a 2023 first-round pick to potentially land the missing piece in their quest for Banner 18. What they gave up to get him was ultimately inconsequential to the team’s results in 2022-23, while the draft pick they gave away should end up in the final six picks or so assuming a fall-off isn’t imminent for the Celtics this coming campaign.

What they may get in return for those spare parts, though, could be the ideal sixth man that can step in and start on nights the 36-year-old Al Horford needs to sit out for maintenance or in case of an injury to a current starter.

The point guard was confident about his presence boosting Boston’s already impressive defense — one that ESPN’s Zach Lowe called “maybe the best defense I’ve ever seen,” while noting that “there are no weak spots to pick at; they switch everything, they don’t make mistakes.” Brogdon spoke at length about how perfect he and the Boston Celtics are together and that landing on a team that fits his timeline was surprising given the timeline of how everything went down:

"“Defensively, they were the best defensive team in the NBA. I think the gap only widens now, now that I’m on the team. I don’t think it could be even a better fit. They weren’t on my radar early on, but for them to come in at the very end and to happen that quick — within 24, 36 hours — it was fortuitous and I was meant to be there. I have maybe three more years of my prime. I’ve gone to a team where I think I fit their timeline. I think I’m right in the middle of it. I fit on the court physically — my skillset, my game, everything fits.”"

If Malcolm Brogdon somehow winds up a poor fit with the Boston Celtics, he could be an asset for next year’s trade deadline

Given that he will be playing on the final year of a four-year, $85 million contract with the Indiana Pacers signed back during the summer of 2019, Malcolm Brogdon could easily be used in another trade in the next seven months. This time, though, Boston could be the one shipping him off.

CBS Sports’ Michael Kaskey-Blomain initially floated the idea of Brogdon being used as an asset during the 2023 NBA trade deadline, saying that ‘if things don’t work out, the two sides can simply part ways prior to the trade deadline, or next summer’ before calling the Brogdon trade a ‘high-reward, relatively low-risk move for Boston’.

Brogdon’s salary could be aggregated with Payton Pritchard and/or Grant Williams’ deal to pry a valuable veteran away from a team in need of a rebuilding project come February if the Celtics are no closer to a title now than they were last season.