The Pacers have agreed to trade veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon to the Celtics, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski ( Twitter link ).
The deal would send center Daniel Theis, wing Aaron Nesmith and a 2023 first-round pick to Indiana, Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter). Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts and Juwan Morgan are also headed to the Pacers in the trade, Wojnarowski added (via Twitter).
The Celtics wanted to get a “real playing guard,” Wojnarowski explains (via Twitter), and they were able to do so without including any of their core players in the package. Brogdon battled injuries often during his six-year career, but was effective on both ends of the court when healthy.
In 2021/22, the 29-year-old averaged 19.1 PPG, 5.9 APG and 5.1 RPG in 36 games (33.5 MPG) for the Pacers. Brogdon’s three-point percentage dropped to 31.2 percent last season, but he’s still a career 37.6 percent shooter from beyond the arc.
Although Brogdon’s name has come up frequently in trade rumors this offseason, he was primarily linked to the Wizards and Knicks in the weeks leading up to the draft. Washington addressed its hole at point guard by agreeing to acquire Monte Morris and sign Delon Wright, while New York brought in Jalen Brunson in free agency. That opened the door for another Eastern Conference club to make a deal with the Pacers.
Brogdon will earn $67.6 million over the next three seasons, including $22.6 million in 2022-23. To match his salary and make the trade legal, the Celtics would have to include five players in their package — the most expensive of those players, Theis, makes $8.69 million next season, while Nesmith will make $3.8 million. Stauskas, Fitts and Morgan all had non-guaranteed minimum salary contracts that will become guaranteed for matchup purposes, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweeted.
The Celtics, who also agreed to sign Danilo Gallinari, now have about $167.5 million committed to 11 players, according to NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg ( Twitter link ), so team ownership doesn’t seem worried about paying tax bill in 2022 /23. Depending on how deep into the tax Boston is willing to go, the club could also use its $17 million trade exception, which will not be used in this deal.
The Pacers, meanwhile, had interest in Grant Williams, according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fisher ( Twitter link ), but ultimately were willing to take the Celtics’ 2023 first-rounder, which could go well into the late 20s.
Indiana could also see value in Theis and Nesmith, but the deal is more for the first rounder and the cap flexibility Brogdon will create. In addition to clearing some long-term money, the Pacers now have about $31 million in projected cap space this summer, Marks tweeted.
The two teams will have to wait until July 9 to officially complete the deal, Marks noted (via Twitter), since Morgan can’t be signed until then.
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