BOSTON — When the Celtics traded for Malcolm Brogdon last July, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens had to be up front with the veteran guard.
Brogdon had been a starter for most of his first six seasons in the NBA. But the Celtics had a specific idea with him. They didn’t need a starter, or for Brogdon to be a top option. Their NBA Finals run exposed a need for a playmaker off the bench, and they viewed Brogdon as the perfect fit.
“They told me straight up, you’re going to come off the bench,” Brogdon recalled on TNT Thursday night. “We have a formula here, we have something that works. We think you can be a key piece and really help us, but your role is going to be coming off the bench, and I chose to embrace it.”
Brogdon, after a few underwhelming, injury-riddled seasons with the Pacers, saw it as an opportunity to join a championship team, and still be a major contributor. He not only embraced the sacrificial role, but excelled in it. On Thursday, Brogdon was recognized as the NBA’s sixth man of the year, edging New York’s Immanuel Quickley for the award.
Brogdon received 60 first-place votes (out of 100), finishing with 408 points to Quickley’s 326. He became the first Celtic since Bill Walton in 1985-86 to win the award, which is named after Celtics great John Havlicek.
“This is such an honor,” Brogdon said as he accepted the award on TNT’s pregame show.
“From day one, Malcolm has eagerly embraced his role as a game-changer off the bench,” Stevens said in a statement. “His emphasis on winning has been reflected daily in his work, his play, and his selflessness. Malcolm winning the award named after John Havlicek, an all-time Celtic, could not be more appropriate.”
Brogdon may have had a reduced role alongside stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and fellow guards Marcus Smart and Derrick White, but his impact proved to be as significant as promised when the Celtics made the trade last summer. He was the only player in the NBA to finish top three in scoring (14.9 points), rebounding (4.2) and assists (3.7) among players who didn’t start a game. He finished the regular season fourth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage at 44.4%, a career high.
But more importantly, he embraced the responsibility of leading the Celtics’ second unit, which made the difference in victories all season long.
“I thought Malcolm taking on the identity of the second unit, getting with the patience of sometimes finishing halves, sometimes not,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Sometimes finishing games, not finishing games. I thought just, he handled it with an open mind, he handled it with a humility and kind of regardless of what his sub pattern or what he was doing, he just played. And we’re grateful for that.”
Brogdon said that his willingness to accept this role with the Celtics was rooted in humbling experiences to begin his NBA career, first with the Bucks and then with the Pacers.
“I had the pleasure of playing with Giannis (Antetekounmpo), one of the best players in the world,” Brogdon said on TNT. “Which was, for me, coming out of college I was All-American, I had good accolades. But you have to check your ego at the door, especially when I got to Milwaukee. And then I go to Indiana and me and (Domantas Sabonis) are really running the show there. And my last two seasons there weren’t super successful.
“So for me, that was another gut check for me in understanding, maybe I’m not a No. 1 guy. But I can be a great No. 2, 3 or 4. And then coming to Boston, and playing behind J.T. and J.B., these guys that are proven All-Stars and soon-to-be All-NBA guys. It’s definitely a good fit for me.”
Young ‘not worried’
Hawks star Trae Young is off to a dismal start in this series, and he’s had better times than the one he experienced in Boston last week. He’s averaging 20 points and seven assists over the first two games on 14-for-40 shooting, including a 23.1% mark from 3-point land. He committed five turnovers in each game as he struggled against the Celtics’ strong defensive guards that include Smart and White.
As Game 2 wound down in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night, the crowd at TD Garden chanted “Overrated!” at Young. He’s not concerned about his poor showing thus far.
“Obviously everybody knows the defenses are geared towards me and it’s up to me to make the right decisions, right reads and throughout the game today, I think I did in the first quarter early on, and then late in that first quarter,” Young said after Game 2. “Kind of lost the ball a couple times and had a few turnovers and it kind of got out of sorts. I didn’t play my best today and I know I will going forward. I’m not worried. …
“I could be better. I didn’t shoot the ball really well, I had some turnovers where I was just driving and it left my hands. But I’m going to be better at home.”
White is expecting a response from Young at home.
“We’re sure that he’s gonna be ready to go,” White said. “He’s a great player, he’s done a lot of great things in this league and it’s been a challenge these first two games and it’s going to continue to be a challenge throughout the rest of this series. We understand that and we gotta be prepared for anything.”
