Celtics Reportedly Showing No Interest In Trading Malcolm Brogdon

After parting with Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogdon features even more prominently in the Celtics' backcourt, making it unlikely he's traded this season.

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Malcolm Brogdon came to Boston and embraced a role anchoring the Celtics' second unit with a championship in mind.

The result was the former Virginia Cavalier generating 14.9 points, the highest scoring average among players who didn't start in a single game last season, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists.

He also nearly gained entry into the 50/40/90 club for the second time in his career, shooting 48.4 percent from the field, knocking down a career-best 44.4 percent of the 4.4 threes he hoisted, the fourth-highest accuracy rate in the NBA, and converting on 87 percent of his free throws.

That production earned Brogdon Sixth Man of the Year honors, making him the third player in franchise history to win the award.

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But after coming off the bench helped keep him fresh for the playoffs, the seven-year veteran suffered a partial tear in the tendon coming out of his right elbow that leads into his forearm, an injury that worsened while boxing out Kevin Love in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

He played 7:55 in Game 5 against the Heat, was inactive for the next matchup, and logged a disastrous 7:05 scoreless shift in Game 7, where he was a minus-15.

Brogdon averaged 5.7 points for the series and shot 30.8 percent from the field, making less than one three per contest on 16.7 percent shooting beyond the arc.

But after the original framework of the trade bringing Kristaps Porzingis to Boston, which would've sent the reigning Sixth Man of the Year to the Clippers, fell through due to Los Angeles's concerns about the latter's medicals, the Celtics salvaged the deal by parting with their longest-tenured player, Marcus Smart, who's now a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.

With Boston's depth chart at point guard currently comprised of Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Dalano Banton, and Brogdon, the most logical trade involving the latter is to acquire someone the organization believes is an upgrade at that position, a challenging deal to pull off.

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Steve Bulpett of Heavy, to that point, reports a league source conveyed about his team's inquiry into Brogdon's availability, "We asked about him, and we were told he's a valued member of their team."

"They said he's a valued member of their team, and that's where it ended," the source continued. "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."

Expect the Georgia native, who turns 31 in December, to again feature prominently in the Celtics backcourt in the 2023-24 campaign, with the franchise hoping he's healthy through a playoff run that ends with him helping Boston capture Banner 18.

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