Malcolm Brogdon has started every game he's played over the past four seasons and has averaged more than 30 minutes per contest in his six-year NBA career.
The veteran guard's role figures to change -- perhaps rather dramatically -- following a trade from the Indiana Pacers to the Boston Celtics, though, and one rival NBA general manager believes it could be to Brogdon's benefit, so long as he buys into a smaller workload.
"The knock against him coming out of college is that he had terrible knees," the rival GM told Heavy's Steve Bulpett. "I mean, some of the examinations were really suspect in terms of how long his lower body would be able to take NBA pounding. So that's why he ended up going in the second round, because he was damn near red-flagged.
"So the fact of the matter is he's probably better off coming off the bench with limited minutes, trying to be impactful in 18 rather than trying to play 30 and always being injured. The question becomes how he'll accept that."
Injuries have been an issue for Brogdon, who played in just 36 games last season and hasn't appeared in more than 64 games since his 2016-17 rookie campaign with the Milwaukee Bucks. Perhaps a reduction in minutes will lead to less wear and tear as Brogdon nears his 30th birthday in December, and ultimately keep him on the court as the Celtics look to build on their NBA Finals appearance in 2022-23.
Brogdon has been very productive when healthy, and the Celtics have garnered rave reviews for being able to land him at a reasonable trade cost this offseason. Boston's backcourt depth court -- with Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown starting, and Brogdon joining Derrick White and Payton Pritchard off the bench -- suddenly looks much stronger, giving Ime Udoka plenty of options moving forward.
