For The Boston Celtics, Angry Malcolm Brogdon Is Not A Serious Problem

Malcolm Brogdon is a serious man. When he was a junior at Virginia, he said back in 2016, he considered what he wanted to do next, whether it was enter his name into the NBA draft or return to the Cavaliers for his senior season. He opted to go back to school, because he’d done some studying.

“I did my research,” Brogdon said at the time, “on guys that stayed, guys that left and the types of programs they came back to and left from. And I just realized, part of it was my master’s, I wanted to get my education and get my graduate degree, but the other part was, I didn’t feel like I had done enough in college, I felt like I had more to accomplish, more to do.”

And, after his thorough examination of the situation, he did. Brogdon was the ACC’s Player of the Year as a senior, and Virginia reached the Elite 8 in that year’s NCAA tournament. The Cavs were No. 4 in the final AP poll, the third straight season they’d finished in the Top 6—Brogdon was the leading scorer in each of those seasons.

Now, Brogdon is 30 and a member of the Boston Celtics, entering his second season with the club. He is still as serious as he was when he was a humble grad student and, according veteran reporter Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, he’s angry with the team for nearly trading him as part of the Kristaps Porzingis deal this offseason.

That deal fell apart when the Clippers, the team with whom Brogdon was supposed to land, could not get a physical done on Brogdon in time. The Celtics instead traded Marcus Smart for Porzingis, leaving Brogdon in place.

Brogdon might be justified to be ticked off by the Celtics’ attempted trade. When the Pacers unloaded him back in the summer of 2022, Indiana gave him some options on where he could wind up, and he picked Boston. He went out and played well for the Celtics, averaging 14.9 points on 48.4% shooting and 44.4% 3-point shooting, earning the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award along the way. In his mind, he upheld his end of the bargain.

So, he’s not happy. That’s not ideal. It’s also not justified, and, the Celtics sure hope, it also will have no bearing on the start of the season.

Brogdon Can’t Bring Emotion Into Training Camp

Brogdon has a right to his feelings. But the notion that Brogdon would carry anger into the upcoming year, or that his unhappiness would somehow be a reason for the Celtics to trade him now—that Brogdon would become a plague in the locker room just to spite the team that had the nerve to nearly send him to a championship contender in Southern California—is a bridge too far.

Brogdon has been through the trade wringer in the NBA before. Twice, actually, once with the Bucks and again with the Pacers. And if he was angry then, he sure did not show it.

In 2019, the Bucks had decisions to make on their point guard situation, and ultimately decided to award Eric Bledsoe a lucrative extension (four years, $70 million), meaning Brogdon (still on his rookie deal as a second-rounder, at $1.5 million) was unlikely to be paid in Milwaukee. He averaged 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists that season, and was dealt as part of a sign-and-trade to Indiana that summer.

And there was the Pacers’ situation in 2021-22, when Brogdon was part of the team’s trade offer to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons. The Sixers passed on Brogdon, who did not seem angered by the situation. He returned to Indiana and averaged 19.7 points, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds in his first 25 games before he suffered an Achilles tendon injury.

Now, there is the near-trade for Porzingis, a player the Celtics wanted badly enough to warrant dealing away a franchise icon like Smart. Brogdon probably was not happy about the situation, and he may well have been downright angry about it. But history says he will put all that aside, with ease. He’s done it before.

Brogdon is a serious guy. He will turn 31 in December, and his chances at winning in the NBA are dwindling. He has the chance to play for a championship contender right now in Boston. When training camp arrives, he’ll tuck away any leftover emotions from the Porzingis saga, and get back to work.