Why Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari are perfect for Boston Celtics
The Malcolm Brogdon effect on the Boston Celtics
To address the need for another point guard, Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens, traded for Indiana Pacers guard, Malcolm Brogdon.
A former second-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Bucks, Brogdon took home Rookie of the Year honors in season one before signing with the Indiana Pacers in 2019, where he had had his first 20-point-per-game season to go along with five rebounds and six assists.
Brogdon is long with a solid frame, standing at 6-5 and 230 pounds.
He is a career 37 percent 3-point shooter and became the newest member of the infamous 50/40/90 club in his final season with the Bucks in 2019. He’s a player who can put the ball in the basket and distribute it out to his teammates all while playing elite perimeter defense.
Brogdon fits this Boston Celtics team like a glove, providing much-needed secondary scoring, passing, and ball handling abilities.
More importantly, Brogdon is a guard who has been known to be more than capable of covering bigger players on switches, which is what the C’s have built their defense around. He is the perfect point guard for Ime Udoka’s system, and he immediately becomes one of the favorites to win this year’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.
A starter for most of his career, Brogdon is excited for the chance to win in Boston, and if that means coming off the bench, he’s all for it:
"“I want to come here and sacrifice to win… I think everybody on a great team, everybody sacrifices. Tatum, Brown, all of us have to take things off our plate and sacrifice a few things.”"
Celtics President Brad Stevens made sure to do his due diligence before pulling off the trade, gauging Brogdon’s reaction towards potentially having to come off the bench for the Celtics.
"“Before pulling the trade with Indiana, the Celtics asked around about Brogdon’s locker room demeanor” … The Celtics “envisioned him in a backup role in Boston and wanted to gauge how he would react to that reality.” The point guard “reportedly has sounded ready to embrace it.”"
For anyone who is worried that Brogdon and Marcus Smart can’t co-exist, Brogdon answered that question at his introductory press conference:
"“Marcus is one of the biggest winners that we’ve seen in this league. I think that’s why Boston loves him. I think that’s why this organization loves him… I think bringing me here actually helps him.”"
Perhaps the best part about Malcolm Brogdon is his price tag.
In return for the talented guard, the Celtics sent Indiana end-of-the-bench players Nik Stauskas and Juwan Morgan, rotation players Aaron Nesmith and Daniel Theis, hype man Malik Fitts, and a 2023 first-round pick.
In other words, this was seen around the league as a complete fleecing by Stevens and the Celtics.
Oh, and I forgot to mention – Brogdon is under contract for the next three years.