NBA Trade Rumors: The Boston Celtics may be ready to move on from Malcolm Brogdon.
After faltering in the Eastern Conference Finals at the hands of the Miami Heat, it’s expected that the Boston Celtics are going to make a few changes to the roster heading into the start of the 2023-24 NBA season. Looking at the team’s roster, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if they elected to thin out their backcourt.
A recent report echoes that as the Celtics are reportedly taking trade calls on their guards – Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, and Payton Pritchard. In a cluttered backcourt, it was hard for each of them to receive the playing time that they probably deserve. Heading into next season, it’s safe to say that one or two of those players won’t be on the team anymore.
The question is, which of these players will end up being the odd man out? When you really break it down, it’s pretty easy to predict who the Celtics could be moving over the course of the next few weeks.
Which guard(s) will the Boston Celtics trade?
Let’s be honest; short of a big move happening, in which the Celtics land, say, Damian Lillard or another premier point guard, Marcus Smart is probably not being traded. He’s too important to the Celtics and it would be hard to justify trading Smart to open minutes for Payton Pritchard or even Malcolm Brogdon at this point. We can all but assume Smart is staying put, short of a blockbuster move taking place.
You can probably say the same about Derrick White, who emerged as one of the team’s most important and productive players this season. During the team’s postseason run, White averaged 13 points per game on 46 percent shooting from 3-point range. He came up big too many times in crunch time, especially in the conference finals against the Heat, for the Celtics to turn their backs on him this offseason.
That’s probably not happening either.
That leaves Brogdon and Pritchard. Ultimately, I believe there’s a good chance both will be moved. If the Celtics are going to give Jaylen Brown the supermax extension, which feels like we’re heading in that direction, Boston almost has to move Brogdon’s contract. He’s due $45 million over the next two seasons.
At this point, I’d assume Brogdon is the odd player out. Pritchard could be moved too. The question is, what would be the team’s asking price or Brogdon? Even though the Celtics would benefit from getting out from under Brogdon’s contract, I have a hard time believing that they’re simply going to dump him for pennies on the dollar.