A busy offseason for Brad Stevens and the Celtics is just about done.
The basketball world is still waiting to see what happens with Jaylen Brown and his pending supermax extension with the Celtics, of course, but the rest of the Boston roster for 2023-24 appears set and simply awaiting the opening of training camp. And that includes the at-one-point-almost-traded Malcolm Brogdon, too, according to the latest update shared by Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett.
Despite facing a seemingly uncertain future with the Celtics given both his injury and those early-offseason trade rumors, multiple sources have told Bulpett that the Celtics have informed potential suitors that Brogdon is by all means unavailable.
“They said [Brogdon]’s a valued member of their team, and that’s where it ended,” a source told Bulpett. “I don’t know if that changes down the line, but we didn’t get anywhere. And I’m pretty sure we aren’t the only team that got that response.”
MIAMI, FLORIDA — Malcolm Brogdon of the Boston Celtics controls the ball ahead of Duncan Robinson of the Miami Heat during Game 4 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
The reigning Sixth Man of the Year, the 30-year-old Brogdon is coming of a 2022-23 campaign that saw him average 14.9 points and 3.7 assists per game, and shoot a career-high 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.
And Brogdon, who had started 210 straight games between the Bucks and Pacers prior to his 2022 trade to Boston, truly embraced his role as a bench presence for the Celtics, as all 67 of his appearances with the Celtics last year came with him coming off the bench as a reserve.
Should the Celtics stick to their (reported) word and keep Brogdon, it’s unlikely that he’d be in a similar role, as the departure of Smart opens the door to Brogdon becoming the team’s go-to starting point guard.
MIAMI, FLORIDA — Boston Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon drives against Gabe Vincent of the Miami Heat during Game 3 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Brogdon, who is on the hook for $22.5 million per year through the 2024-25 season, will enter this year’s camp competing for starting minutes with Derrick White, with the duo having Payton Pritchard, JD Davison, Dalano Banton, and Jay Scrubb behind them on the proverbial depth chart.
A veteran of 400 NBA games, the 6-foot-4 Brogdon has averaged 15.4 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game in a seven-season run between Milwaukee, Indiana, and Boston.
