Malcolm Brogdon had several other trade destination options to weigh before joining the Boston Celtics.
During the offseason, Brogdon revealed the Indiana Pacers provided the 29-year-old with flexibility during the trade discussions which evidently landed him in Boston — after spending three seasons with the Pacers which featured just one playoff run in 2020.
However, Brogdon added some insight as to what other trade destinations were on the table for the 2017 Rookie of the Year to choose from.
“At the end of the day, we knew there was Boston, we knew Toronto, we knew DC,” Brogdon said Friday, as transcribed by MassLive’s Brian Robb. “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 would I rather pursue? I choose Boston.”
The Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards — all Eastern Conference opponents — realistically only left Brogdon with two choices for deep playoff aspirations. Since making his debut campaign with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2017, Brogdon has since appeared in just one conference finals. However, with the Raptors’ star-power loss in Kawhi Leonard — who signed with the Los Angeles Clippers after winning an NBA Finals with Toronto in 2019 — the choice was clear for Brogdon.
“I thought this team was further along,” Brogdon said. “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.”
Brogdon is expected to fulfill the sixth-man role this upcoming season, adding second-unit depth while longest-tenured veteran Marcus Smart serves as the starting point guard.
