Boston Celtics’ Malcolm Brogdon trade proposal a classic Heat heist
With the Miami Heat unable to land Damian Lillard despite a summer of trade rumors linking the Portland Trail Blazers’ All-NBA point guard with the South Beach-based franchise, Boston Celtics Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon is now the name being linked to the Heat.
NBA Analysis Network came up with a mock trade proposal that, on the surface, would fill some holes on the C’s roster — mainly in shooting support roles on the perimeter — but would also wreck the team’s backcourt rotation for superfluous frontcourt depth; a trade swapping out Brogdon for Duncan Robinson and Kevin Love.
Ignoring the fact that Love is a free agent and would need to be included in a sign-and-trade that would handicap the Celtics from using their mid-level exception, Boston would be giving up perhaps their only true point guard in Brogdon for players that play the same position as the team’s star troika of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis.
Malcolm Brogdon’s injury history used to justify Boston Celtics accepting such a trade
NBA Analysis Network’s James Piercey did make an intriguing case for the Boston Celtics to make such a move considering the injury history of Brogdon.
“Brogdon’s injury status should factor into this decision for both sides,” Piercey prefaced before saying, “If he’s potentially healthy enough to play, this is a bad deal for Boston. By contrast, if he’s sitting out the season, the Heat have no reason to make the move. Let’s split the difference. Let’s assume that Brogdon should be suiting up in 2023-24. On the other hand, let’s also assume that there are concerns about his body. Now it’s worth asking: is this a good move for the Celtics? We think so.”
To be clear, if Brogdon isn’t able to play during the 2023-24 season, swapping him out for literally any win-now piece would be in the best interest of the franchise’s direction. Thus far, though, that hasn’t been presented as a realistic possibility, with Joe Mazzulla claiming Brogdon would be available by training camp.
No. 13 is a piece that’s not easily replaceable, and this deal, while it does provide elite shooting, doesn’t begin to go down the road of replacing him. Brogdon is better off a Celtic than given to the Heat at what would have to be considered a discount since the point guard was previously the main asset Boston was offering in a Porzingis trade.