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.”
