Ex-Celtics Guard Suffers Injury Before New Slate With New Team

The Washington Wizards became the third team to acquire Malcolm Brogdon in as many offseasons — joining the Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers — but they’ll become the first to potentially miss the 31-year-old for Opening Night.

Brogdon suffered a hand injury, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic, which prompted the Wizards to send the eight-year veteran back to Washington for further medical examination to better understand the injuries extend. It also means that Brogdon’s debut will be delayed and the Wizards will finish up their preseason without Brogdon before kicking off the 2024-25 campaign against the Celtics on Oct. 24.

Washington traded forward Deni Avdija to Portland in exchange for Brogdon and two draft selections, slating the 2023 Sixth Man of the Year winner for another year with a bottom-of-the-barrel performing franchise. Brogdon, although limited to 39 appearances with Portland, played the veteran leader role with the Trail Blazers — the youngest team in the NBA last season. He averaged 15.7 points with 3.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists, shooting 44% from the field before missing the final 33 games of the season with a right elbow tendinitis injury as Portland proceeded to finish dead last in the Western Conference.

Now, with the team that finished second-to-last in the Eastern Conference last season, Brogdon will look to again be a productive presence in Washington’s locker room. The Wizards, too, have undergone a rebuild of their own, shipping out Kristaps Porzingis last offseason while looking to assemble a team around Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole. Brogdon’s outside shooting, calm tempo demeanor and rotational flexibility should all pay dividends to whatever Washington is striving to accomplish. Granted, it’ll add yet another challenging chapter to Brogdon’s recent stretch of instability.

Brogdon accepted a backseat role in Boston, playing off the bench behind Marcus Smart and Derrick White and didn’t waver. Instead, Brogdon provided starter-level production for the Celtics and helped drive the team to a bid at the NBA Finals. It didn’t work out in Boston and the injury-riddled 39-game run in Portland presumably did no justice by Brogdon’s stock value in the eyes of contending franchises, however, that doesn’t rule out team’s reaching out to Washington midway through the upcoming year to inquire about Brogdon before the traded deadline.

“I’ve been here since the beginning of September so I’ve been with (Washington’s rookies) for the past month,” Brogdon told reporters on media day, per team-provided video. “I’ve built a good relationship with all of them. Different types of relationships but they’re all great guys. They work and I’m excited to play with them. We’ve had a lot of conversations. … Now I’m in Year 9 and fifth team and it’s still an adventure.”