Brogdon injury holding up the Celtics future

Malcolm Brogdon may hold the key to the way this Celtics team looks next season. His injured shooting arm has already forced the Celtics to part ways with their “heart and soul,” Marcus Smart. It wasn’t Smart who was supposed to be part of the deal to get Kristaps Porzingis. But when the LA Clippers backed out of acquiring Brogdon due to concerns of not being able to get him in in time for a physical, Brad Stevens and the Celtics turned to Plan B, which involved getting Memphis involved and shipping out Marcus Smart.

Barring any other future trades had Brogdon gone to LA, Smart would be here next season playing alongside Porzingis, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown. Instead, now it looks like Derrick White will be the new starting point guard with Malcolm Brogdon starting at shooting guard, if healthy.

Brad Stevens didn’t seem concerned last night that Brogdon would be ready to go for the regular season. Brogdon could choose surgery for his injured shooting elbow/forearm or he could choose to just do nothing and let it heal on its own, according to Stevens. Either way, Brogdon should be standing on a basketball court somewhere come opening night of the 2023-24 season.

If Stevens is downplaying Brogdon’s injury, and he already lied about keeping the team intact and running it back the same in 2023-24, then the Celtics need to be in the market for another scoring guard. And if they are not satisfied with White as their starting point guard, they will need to find a starting caliber point guard.

The problem there would be that, if Brogdon is more seriously injured than Stevens wants us to believe, nobody will want Brogdon in a deal. He is basically dead weight on the bench right now, and a very expensive one at that. If Brogdon can’t be dealt, the only other candidates outside of the several second-round draft picks Stevens acquired Thursday night would be Derrick White, Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard, and Robert Williams III.

None of those guys would bring much in a trade, unless packaged with two or three draft picks. Maybe that is Stevens’ plan. He knows Brogdon is damaged goods and he needs to make another fairly big splash this offseason. That is why he accumulated so many draft picks, a la Bill Belichick. Draft picks are capital for a general manager. It would be nicer if they were first-round picks, but some GMs fall for the quantity over quality debate.

Stevens loves Derrick White. One of the best deals he made last year was trading with San Antonio to get White. White has done nothing but hit big three-pointers and make iconic plays at the buzzer in the playoffs to prolong the Celtics’ season. He is not flashy and doesn’t showboat. He doesn't get in the way of Tatum, Brown, or, even, coach Joe Mazzulla. He just does his job. I would have no problem going into the season with him as the starting point guard, and I believe Stevens doesn’t either.

The problem is at the two-guard. If Brogdon misses the season, do the Celtics go with a big lineup of White, Brown at the two, Tatum at the three, Porzingis, and Williams/Horford. That would leave little or no depth on the bench. Even if the Celtics acquire another true guard to go along with White and Williams gets pushed to the bench, that leaves no real scorers on the bench.

The addition of Brogdon last year was huge for the Celtics and contributed to their terrific regular season. His injury in the playoffs derailed the Celtics’ chances of making it to the Finals. If he can’t go next year, the Celtics need another scorer to replace Brogdon’s 20-points per game potential and Smart’s grit and determination. Somebody like old friend, Charlotte's Terry Rozier, might be a perfect fit. Other candidates might be Toronto’s Fred VanVleet, Utah’s Kris Dunn, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, and Washington’s Monte Morris.

And of course the Damian Lillard rumors are still out there if Stevens wants to aim "DeAndre Hopkins" high. Portland did draft third overall a potential replacement for the, soon-to-be, 33-year-old Lillard, Thursday night, in Scoot Henderson.

The point is that Malcolm Brogdon’s injury has put Brad Stevens in a bad spot. If he is healthy, Stevens needs only make small additions here and there. If Brogdon can’t go, Stevens still has some work to do. He may not have to do a 7-foot-3 type splash, but he needs to make another splash.