Brad Stevens wanted to add playmaking this offseason, and he did it on Friday with a major trade.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics are acquiring guard Malcolm Brogdon from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, a 2023 first-round pick, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts and Juwan Morgan.
How much will Danilo Gallinari help the Celtics?
While that's a lot of pieces to give up, it's really not much in terms of actual value. Theis fell out of the rotation in the playoffs, Nesmith has yet to be able to crack it, the pick will almost certainly be a late first, and the final three players are merely deep bench fillers.
In Brogdon, the Celtics get a 29-year-old true point guard who has been a regular starter throughout his career. Over the last two seasons -- his best statistically -- Brogdon has averaged 20.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.
Brogdon has shot just over 50% from two in his career, while his three-point shooting has fluctuated a bit. He has had four seasons shooting over 38% from three, but he's been under 33% in two of the last three years.
Brogdon does come with an injury history, including missing 41 games this past season due to Achilles pain.
That said, there's virtually nothing to dislike about this trade. The Celtics have now added a starting-caliber point guard and a rotational big man in Danilo Gallinari on Friday without giving up any of their top eight rotation players.
Brogdon is signed for three more years and will make $22.6 million this season. That is more than the Celtics' $17.1 million traded player exception, so this is just a regular basketball trade. Brad Stevens will still have that TPE to use before July 18 if he can find the right deal.
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