Evaluating Pacers-Celtics Trade Involving Malcolm Brogdon

Coming off their loss in the 2022 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics have entered the offseason with the mindset of addressing their overall depth.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown could not carry this team alone on the offensive-end of the floor, which is why the Celtics made a move on Friday to acquire Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon.

As first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Brogdon was traded to the Celtics in exchange for Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskis, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan and Boston’s 2023 first-round pick.

Stauskis, Fitts and Morgan are nothing more than salary fillers in this deal that will likely get waived upon arrival to Indiana, but Theis and Nesmith are two intriguing names for the Pacers to consider.

While he is not a high-level center, Daniel Theis has proven to be a valuable bench option in a team’s frontcourt, as he has bounced around from the Celtics to the Bulls to the Rockets and then back to the Celtics this past season.

Needing depth behind Myles Turner, the Pacers could opt to keep Theis around initially and then possibly look to flip him midseason for more future assets. 

As for Aaron Nesmith, he is only 22-years-old and is a former lottery pick of the Celtics. Through his first two seasons in the league, Nesmith has only played in a total of 98 regular season games, averaging about 12.7 minutes per game and only scoring an average 4.2 points per game.

Really only being utilized as an end-of-the-bench type of player, Nesmith now will have a chance to earn a greater role in this league coming off-the-bench for the Indiana Pacers.

Should he however not develop into what the Pacers want him to be, Indiana can always decline his team option following the 2022-23 season and they still have a consolation prize of Boston’s 2023 first-round draft pick from this trade.

The Pacers have been looking to move Malcolm Brogdon since acquiring Tyrese Haliburton at the trade deadline and while they did not receive the offers they liked around this year’s draft, they settled with this one from the Celtics.

Again, getting Aaron Nesmith and a first-round pick in next year’s draft is not a bad move whatsoever, but there were a few other teams around the league inquiring about Brogdon. It is hard to imagine that Nesmith was the best value they were receiving in trade talks.

On the other side of things in Boston, this trade gives the Celtics exactly what they were missing in this year’s Finals against the Warriors. Malcolm Brogdon is not only another scoring weapon that can create opportunities for himself, but he can be a primary facilitator that takes pressure off of the Celtics’ All-Stars and he has proven to be a strong defender to this point in his career.

Boston has made it clear that money will not stand in the way of them competing for a championship and Malcolm Brogdon could very well be the final piece to the puzzle that they were missing.

With how crowded the Eastern Conference is though in terms of All-Star duos and trios, the room for error is very small for the Celtics heading into the 2022-23 season. 

Getting back to the NBA Finals will not be an easy feat to achieve, however, they will enter the new year as the defending Eastern Conference champions for a reason.

Until proven otherwise, the Boston Celtics are the best team in the East and they just got a massive upgrade in their backcourt at an extremely affordable price.