Malcolm Brogdon’s arrival to Boston has remedied the Celtics’ biggest flaw from their NBA Finals run last season, and people outside the organization have taken notice.
Boston was looking for a pretty specific player headed into this past offseason. In order to fix one of their biggest flaws, the Celtics needed to add a ballhandler off the bench who could provide consistent scoring and lead multiple units. In swinging a trade for Brogdon, they got that player.
It’s almost as if Brogdon and the Celtics are a perfect fit. At least that’s what Brogdon’s former coach Rick Carlisle said prior to the Celtics’ matchup with the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.
“To me, there’s a small group of players that can pretty much do anything on a basketball floor,” Carlisle said, per Josue Pavón of CLNS Media. “He can play point, he can play two, he can play three, he can guard any position on the floor. This is a perfect situation for the Celtics and for him. He’s an elite player off the bench. It’s like having a sixth starting player, you know?”
It’s hard to argue with Carlisle, as the 30-year-old Brogdon has averaged 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists across 26 games for Boston — all off the bench. His presence has allowed the Celtics to be selective in how they use fellow guards Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard — who were all run into the ground by Game 6 of the NBA Finals. And in shooting 48.6% from the field and 46.2% from beyond the arc, Brogdon has brought a consistent scoring threat to the bench unit.
With Smart sidelined on Wednesday, Carlisle and the Pacers may get a first-hand look at just how much Brogdon fits in with the Celtics.
