Why this expert gave Celtics A grade for Malcolm Brogdon trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
It’s hard to find many experts, or even fans, who disliked the Malcolm Brogdon trade from the Boston Celtics’ perspective.
The Celtics acquired the veteran point guard from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Juwan Morgan, Malik Fitts, Nik Stauskas and a 2023 first-round draft pick. The first-rounder reportedly is top-12 protected, and if it doesn’t convey as a first-round selection, it becomes a second-rounder.
Grades for the Brogdon trade have been rolling in over the July 4 weekend and early this week.
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton gave the deal an A- for the Celtics. The Athletic’s Zach Harper went a step further and handed out an A+ for Boston.
“Even in a world in which you’re not a huge believer in Brogdon or think he’s overpaid at $67 million over the next three years, it’s still beyond a no-brainer for the Celtics to make this trade,” Harper wrote in his analysis. “They didn’t give up anybody in their core moving forward and didn’t surrender any of the young players they highly covet. They didn’t even give up Grant Williams in this deal.”
Harper also cites Brogdon’s playmaking ability, versatility and great defense as reasons why this trade made a ton of sense for the C’s.
His final point was, “The Celtics gave up essentially nothing here, so the potential pitfalls of Brogdon’s injury history are still well worth the risk.”
Forsberg: What’s left on the Celtics’ offseason to-do list?
The Celtics have had a tremendous offseason so far.
In addition to Brogdon, they reportedly are signing free agent forward Danilo Gallinari, who will add much-needed bench scoring and outside shooting. Boston still has its largest traded-player exception (TPE) of $17.1 million that was created by sending Evan Fournier to the New York Knicks last summer. So, the C’s could still acquire another impact player that way.
They’ve also retained all of their best trade assets, so if Brad Stevens wants to make a bold push for a player like Kevin Durant, he can compete with rival teams’ best offers.
Brogdon is a great fit for the Celtics. If he stays healthy, the Celtics will be very tough to beat on the way to the NBA Finals next season.
