Malcolm Brogdon Says Pacers Gave Him Choice Between Celtics, Raptors Trade

Boston Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon said Friday that he chose to be traded to Boston during the offseason when given a choice by the Indiana Pacers.

According to Brian Robb of MassLive, Brogdon asserted that the Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards had all shown interest in him leading up to the draft. However, the Wizards dropped out after the draft since their trade would have included the No. 10 overall pick.

Brogdon added that the Pacers asked him if he would prefer Boston or Toronto before either team made a firm offer, and he expressed his desire to go to the Celtics, which Indiana made happen.

Boston surrendered several depth pieces in Aaron Nesmith, Daniel Theis, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan and Nik Stauskas as well as a 2023 first-round pick in the trade for Brogdon.

When asked why he favored the Celtics over the Raptors, Brogdon said he felt Boston was "farther along," labeled Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as stars, and noted that he wanted to "win right now."

It is difficult to argue with Brogdon's assessment based on how the Celtics and Raptors fared last season.

Both the Celtics and Raptors were playoff teams, but Toronto was eliminated in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers, while Boston went all the way to the NBA Finals, where it fell to the Golden State Warriors.

Tatum, Brown and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart were the driving forces behind Boston last season, and all of them are back for the 2022-23 campaign.

Meanwhile, Toronto still has one of the deepest rosters in the NBA thanks to Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby and several other key contributors.

Barnes was the NBA Rookie of the Year last season, which suggests the Raptors could have an equally bright or even brighter future than the Celtics.

In terms of competing for a championship during the upcoming season, however, there is little doubt that Boston is in a better spot.

Brogdon perhaps gets the Celtics closer to their goal of Banner 18 based on how productive he has been throughout his career.

The 29-year-old is set to enter his seventh NBA season after splitting his first six campaigns between the Milwaukee Bucks and Pacers. In addition to being the 2016-17 NBA Rookie of the Year, the 6'5" guard has averaged 15.5 points, 4.8 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 three-pointers per game in 333 contests.

Brogdon adds to the Celtics' considerable backcourt depth alongside Brown, Smart, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard that figures to make Boston a pain for the opposition to play against.