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The Boston Celtics are reportedly “comfortable” with bringing reigning Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon back into the mix next year as he recovers from a right arm injury suffered during this past season’s Eastern Conference Finals.
Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe provided the update on Friday night:
“The injury could still require surgery, but Brogdon is expected to be ready for the start of the season regardless, sources said. A league source said Friday that the Celtics are not currently looking to trade Malcolm Brogdon, and that they are comfortable bringing the reigning Sixth Man of the Year back in that role next season.”
Per Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Brogdon suffered a “partial tear in the tendon coming out of his right elbow that leads into his forearm” during Game 1 of Boston’s series with the Miami Heat on May 17.
“The Celtics guard was initially dealing with golfer’s elbow soreness during the second-round series against Philadelphia, but an MRI after Game 1 against the Heat determined he exacerbated the injury by tearing the tendon in boxing out MiamiHeat big Kevin Love midway through the first quarter,” Weiss wrote.
Brogdon averaged 14.9 points on 48.4 percent shooting (44.4 percent from three-point range), 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 26.0 minutes per game last year.
He was reportedly set to leave Boston in a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers that would have landed Kristaps Porziņģis with the C’s, but the Clips had concerns about Brogdon’s injury:
Marc Stein @TheSteinLine
Concerns raised by the Clippers about Malcolm Brogdon’s injury status, league sources say, led to the collapse of the three-team trade expected to send Kristaps Porzingis to Boston before midnight tonight.
A direct Wizards/Celtics deal has not been ruled out.
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Boston eventually landed Porziņģis in a three-team deal with the Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies, dealing Marcus Smart to Memphis instead.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst also reported the following on June 22’s edition of Get Up! regarding Brogdon:
“Malcolm Brogdon, who was the key piece going from Boston to the Los Angeles Clippers in this [canceled] deal, Brogdon has a health issue, a health issue that as I understand, is so significant, that not only can the Celtics not do this trade, there’s probably no Malcolm Brogdon trade that they can do in the short term.”
However, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported on Friday that the Clippers “re-engaged Boston about acquiring Brogdon in recent days.”
Ultimately, the latest report indicates that Brogdon might be staying in Boston after all.
That’s great news for the Celtics, especially if he’s ready in time for the season. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year Award winner played an instrumental role in the team’s success, and the C’s very well could have headed to the Finals with a healthy Brogdon aboard.
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