After progressing through one of the best six-month stretches in recent NBA history, the Boston Celts they are sure they have a championship core. Still, there is work to be done to get over the hurdle and bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy once again. Most of that work comes in two areas: internally through developing and improving your best players, and small tweaks to the core that add different weapons into the mix.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens worked to address the latter with some moves around the fringes that give the Celtics additional depth and new pieces to play with. Just two years ago, Malcolm Brogdon was averaging 21 points, 6 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game, shooting 38.8% from 3-point range and one of the most efficient pick-and-roll creators in the NBA. . At just 29 years old, it is highly unlikely that Brogdon, who is prone to injury, had the best of his time.
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In a smaller, more scalable role, Brogdon is an incredible addition to this Celtics team. The hope is that his body can last longer parts of the season when he’s asked to do less, and it’s highly unlikely that Brogdon will play more than 33 minutes a game, as he has the past two years with the Indiana Pacers.
From a logical standpoint, adding Brogdon reinforces the way the Celtics want to play: big at every position with players who move the ball and high-IQ shooters, as well as guys who can defend multiple positions. The three-man perimeter combo of Brogdon, Marcus Smart and Derrick White checks all those boxes while taking up most of the available minutes at guard spots.
While Brogdon is a good size 6’5” with a really strong frame, he’s unlikely to use it in the same way Smart does (in the post). What Brogdon does well is physically getting to his spots at a deliberate pace, rarely getting knocked down by contact on impulse. His body helps him lean into defenders on hostage dribbles, run through multiple defenders on screens, and see over the defense as a passer.
So what does Brogdon bring to the table that the Celtics don’t already have? A really clever and capable pick-and-roll build aspect that Cs can easily benefit from.
Brogdon’s value for the second unit (or simply the moments when one of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown are resting) is to stabilize the offensive creation, both in early and late clock situations. Last year, Brogdon was one of the best late point guards in the league, converting 63.2% of his attempts from inside three feet. according to Basketball Reference. He is shooting over 59% at the rim in his career, proof of his combination of size, skill and touch.
What we appreciate the most is that Brogdon has great touch with his left hand. He handles contact well on his drives due to the strong frame of him, gets to his spots at the basket and has the ability to float layups with his left hand there with precision.
As a larger body, Brogdon doesn’t create a ton of separation, even in straight lines, from his man one on one. On ball screen changes or attacking downhill against drop coverage, he’s not likely to get a naked try at the rim very often. To be successful playing that way, Brogdon needs to have plenty of tricks up his sleeve to score in the lane.
We’ll highlight two of our favorites here. First is his propensity to dive into contact with big men and get to the free throw line. Brogdon drives an outside hip off a falling center to the rim. He initiates contact with the hip, then swings out and is rewarded with two free throws:
The other move is his fast break to get contact and a clean look at the rim. Brogdon uses a tremendous fake pump and step move that gets big men airborne almost every time:
The trickster that Brogdon has become is only effective because of how hard and physically he drives. His strength allows him to handle contact and get to points, but the urgency with which he tries to push the rim is what forces defenders to act quickly. He’s not the most athletic, but there’s a general feeling that he drives really hard.
Because of that reputation, slowdown traits become very important to Brogdon and are something he does very well. When he feels like he can’t get the separation to the rim, he won’t try to intimidate guys and take a bunch of offensive fouls. Instead, he’ll stop in a heartbeat and hit some mid-range jump shots.
Last year, Brogdon shot 42.9% on half-court jumpers, according to Synergy Sports Tech, and he was an impressive 46.9% in 2020-21. Those numbers mean the shot isn’t just good for Brogdon, it’s good for the Celtics: If he can deliver more than 0.9 points per shot (shooting over 45% at midrange), it’s considered analytically-positive possession.
Now that we’ve established that Brogdon is really good at the rim and at midrange, there’s one more level scorers can reach at midcourt: shooting from 3-point range. Brogdon is consistent in hurting teams that go under picks, which means opponents can’t just hide in lane and challenge him to shoot.
I’ve long believed that hard-hitting overhead shots go hand in hand with effective pick-and-roll passes. Guards shooting off the rebound force defenders to go over screens. When they throw up an interception, the defender is momentarily behind them, giving a 5v4 lead that canny shooting guards can exploit. Hostage dribbling, screen weaving, taking wide open spaces and other methods have become commonplace in the NBA to exploit those momentary advantages.
However, there is no substitute for a quick decision maker and an accurate passer in those moments. All of those tricks are important, but when you trust them they become easier to stop. Brogdon is a timely passer, both on quick reads and staying patient to see what develops on a play. He follows the general rule of looking for the roll first, then he can kick the shooters around him:
Last year with Rick Carlisle, the Indiana Pacers had a lot of shooting (especially after the trade deadline). Buddy Hield, Tyrese Haliburton and Chris Duarte were big hitters, and greats Myles Turner and Jalen Smith could stretch the floor. Brogdon’s ability to juggle different actions (like guard-to-guard screens on the wing that Carlisle scored a lot of) and still make the right read will fit in well with the Celtics. They can execute guard-to-guard actions with Tatum and Brown to force switches or open jump shots, and use the floor space of great shooters like Al Horford and Danilo Gallinari in the corners, all of whom are familiar from their era. in Indiana. .
Most of the second-unit point guards are in the second unit because they have some kind of limitation on their game. Brogdon is a good defender, a great body, a constant and consistent 3-point shooter, an effective finisher, a proactive passer, a two-handed finisher … the list goes on and on. Stevens pulled off a heist by getting the highest-quality backup guard in the league for a fairly low price. Regardless of injury history, this is a big win for the C’s.