The Indiana Pacers unloaded several veterans ahead of the NBA trade deadline in February and kept making deals during the offseason as well. One of the veterans that were on the move over the summer was guard Malcolm Brogdon.
Brogdon was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for a 2023 first-round pick along with Daniel Theis, Juwan Morgan, Aaron Nesmith, Malik Fitts and Nik Stauskas. It was a nice upgrade to the backcourt for the Celtics, who didn’t have many if any holes on the roster coming into the offseason but wanted to shore up a few spots.
How the deal for Brogdon materialized is an interesting one. There were two other teams in the running for him; the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors. In a standup move by the organization, the Pacers let Brogdon choose where he wanted to and he picked the Celtics, so they pursued a deal with them.
“At the end of the day, we knew there was Boston, we knew Toronto we knew DC,” Brogdon said of his trade options while making an appearance on Sirius XM Radio. “DC fell off after the draft since they were thinking about trading that 10th pick for me. Toronto and Boston popped up. We had a choice to pursue — there wasn’t an offer on the table yet from either of them but the Pacers came to me and said we could pursue either of them and which one would I rather pursue. I choose Boston.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Malcolm Brogdon, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors & Indiana Pacers Updates
The Celtics certainly happen about that decision as they added a solid two-way player to their backcourt. Injuries have derailed Brogdon in recent seasons, but when he is healthy and on the court, he brings a lot of positives to the mix.
So, why did he choose the Celtics? He would have likely had larger roles with the Wizards and Raptors, but at the end of the day, the chance to compete was a deciding factor. For him, the Celtics provided the best chance at that.
“I thought this team was farther along,” Brogdon said of Boston. “They have a superstar in Jayson Tatum and probably another superstar in Jaylen Brown as well. I thought it would be a great fit for me because I wanted to win right now.”
Coming off a trip to the NBA Finals, Brogdon certainly chose right when it comes to competing for a chance to win right away. He should have a big role off the bench in Beantown, combining with Derrick White on the second unit.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Malcolm Brogdon, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors & Indiana Pacers Updates
Brogdon has some high expectations for him and his new team, as he believes they can be among the best backcourts in the NBA on both sides of the ball.
“I think we can be the best defensive backcourt in the league for sure,” Brogdon said at Media Day. “Offensively, I think we can be great. I think we got guys like Jayson and Tatum… I mean, Jaylen and Jayson make the game easier for us and take the pressure off of us on both sides of the ball. But those guys’ roles are to lead this team on offense and to score the ball and to be the monsters they are. Our job as a backcourt is to make it easier for them to defend when they need to focus on offense and be great defensively and support them offensively.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Malcolm Brogdon, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors & Indiana Pacers Updates
This certainly looks like a team that will be contending once again this season in the Eastern Conference. They have an excellent foundation and if they can get past the offseason fiasco involving head coach Ime Udoka, they should once again be right there until the very end.
