Four former Boston Celtics players made their preseason debut with the New York Knicks on Thursday afternoon. Two of them, Malcolm Brogdon and Guerschon Yabusele, are expected to see a fair amount of playing time with New York this season.
Neither man was overly impressive in the Knicks’ preseason opener against the Philadelphia 76ers. Brogdon scored three points in 12 minutes, while Yabusele went scoreless in the same amount of time. The two combined to shoot just 1-7 from the field and 1-5 from beyond the arc.
Brogdon, a former Sixth Man of the Year winner with the Celtics, showed signs of intrigue, despite his inefficient afternoon. He was clearly impactful alongside some of the Knicks’ bench players and helped the offense remain sharp during his minutes.
Preseason always has to be taken with a grain of salt, though. Players are getting back up to speed after a months-long offseason. Even with the amount of training these guys do in the summer, nothing compares to playing in an NBA game. It’s typically not the strongest indicator of what sort of season is to come from a given player.
New York certainly hopes that both former Celtics can help them reach their ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship for the first time since 1972. Ending the championship drought is no longer a pipe dream for the Knicks and their supporters, which is a tough reality for Celtics fans.
Any Knicks success will sting a bit extra for Celtics fans
Seeing a division rival succeed is hard. Seeing that rival succeed with guys who used to play in Boston is harder.
Brogdon was only a Celtic for a year, but he was meant to be the difference maker after the Cs came up short in the 2022 NBA Finals. He delivered for the most part, averaging 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game on 48.4% from the field and 44.4% from beyond the arc in 67 appearances for Boston. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to stay healthy when it mattered most, suffering a forearm injury deep into the Celtics’ playoff run.
Yabusele was less of a difference maker and more of a fan favorite during his Cs tenure. The No. 16 overall pick in 2016 appeared in just 74 total games for the franchise, averaging 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds per outing on 44.2% from the field and 32.3% from long range. Regardless, fans would get excited any time “The Dancing Bear” checked in for some garbage time minutes. Fortunately for Yabusele, he was able to make his way back to the league for a real role with the 76ers last season.
Celtics fans will get their first look at Brogdon and Yabusele in Knicks colors on Oct. 24 when Boston heads down to Madison Square Garden.