Bulpett highlights some causes for concern with Malcolm Brogdon

So far the news of the Boston Celtics acquisition of Malcolm Brogdon has been almost too good to be true. Boston seemingly picked up a perfect missing piece for the price of their 2023 first round pick, as well as their 2021 first rounder Aaron Nesmith. The lone knock on Brogdon was that he gets injured too much.

According to Steve Bulpett's latest piece there are reasons why no other team outbid Boston's trade offer.

“The knock against him coming out of college is that he had terrible knees,” a rival general manager told Heavy. “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.”

Another Bulpett source added this:

“There have been some issues with coaches before, but now he’s in a really big situation with a team that has a real chance to win everything,” he said. “I hear he’s been putting the right things out there, and I hope he realizes that this is his big opportunity.

Ok I will admit this is the first I've heard about either the potentially red-flagged coming out of college or the issues with coaches. I don't like the idea of Brogdon only playing 18 minutes a game. You don't pay someone $22.5 million a year to play just 18 minutes per game.

It would be easy to dismiss the rival GM's thoughts as just some "nonsense by a Celtics' hater," but that would be lazy. Bulpett is a long time respected reporter.

The stuff to do with issues and coaches doesn't really bother me. It's not like our incumbent point guard has never had issues with his coaches. Players and coaches have issues... and then they get over them.

I do have concerns though about Brogdon being healthy the next few seasons for entire playoff runs. That was legit concern prior to the trade and even more-so now. Boston already has Robert Williams who has issues staying healthy, Jaylen Brown who tends to have a recurring knee issue, and of course Al Horford isn't getting any younger.

So once again having luck in the health department will be key to the Celtics making it back to the NBA Finals. As for the Brogdon deal, it now makes more sense why other teams didn't make better offers. I believe the only one I heard reported was the Lakers offering a first round pick as well, but the Pacers had to take back Russell Westbrook. That was a trash offer.

Still a solid deal for the Celtics in my opinion, though personally I still would have preferred the Dejounte Murray route. IF Brogdon can remain healthy, it will end up a great trade. Just might not be the absolute slam dunk that it first appeared to be. Often times if things appear too good to be true, its because most often they are.


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