Trail Blazers News: Long-Injured Portland Star Still Considered Team's MVP

Matt Levine | Apr 19, 2024

Despite the lack of success that the Portland Trail Blazers saw this season, they still had some bright moments. One area included the play from veteran point guard Malcolm Brogdon, who came over to Portland from the Boston Celtics in a trade right before the season started.

Brogdon could have asked out of Portland, considering that they weren't a contending team. But instead, he decided to embrace playing alongside all the young players, becoming a mentor for a few of them.

Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report handed out Team MVPs for each NBA squad and Brogdon made the cut for the Blazers.

"Brogdon hasn't played since early February when an elbow injury knocked him out of the lineup. It's hard to imagine him returning to add to his season total of 39 games. That he winds up as his team MVP says everything you need to know about the Portland Trail Blazers' season. Brogdon is Portland's leader in Estimated Wins and EPM, with the former being a cumulative stat. So, yes, you're reading that correctly: A guy who'll play less than half the season provided the most total catch-all value. In addition to that, Brogdon has the best net plus/minus of any Portland player who logged at least 1,000 minutes. His minus-81 only looks bad until you compare it to the ones produced by Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons, both of which are over four times worse."

He only appeared in 39 games for Portland but Brogdon made a big difference. He averaged 15.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Injuries took their toll on Brogdon this year but he made the most of things when on the floor.

Brogdon has one more year on his contract for $22.5 million next season. He could very well stay with the Blazers, especially if the front office wants to keep a veteran on the team for the young guys to continue learning from.