Indiana Pacers off-season wrap-up: A deeper look at the 6 new additions

Malcolm Brogdon

In the days leading up to the start of free agency, the Pacers had been linked to Ricky Rubio as their point guard of the future. Fans were… less than excited about this (myself included). Rubio is a solid point guard, most well-known for his passing, but his fit with the team was questionable at best.

Then, in the span of literally 3 minutes, three things happened: Ricky Rubio signed with the Suns (phew), Bojan Bogdanovic signed with the Jazz (uh-oh), and then, the Pacers acquired Malcolm Brogdon in a sign-and-trade with Milwaukee (Hooray!). In the deal, the Pacers sent Milwaukee a 2020 1st round pick and 2 future second round picks, while locking down Brogdon for 4 years, $85 million.

There’s a lot to talk about here. First and foremost, well done by Kevin Pritchard. Brogdon was a key piece of a Milwaukee Bucks team that won 60 games and was the first seed in the east (losing to eventual NBA champion Toronto in the Eastern Conference Finals).

He won rookie of the year in 2017 and is one of fewer than 10 players in NBA history to average 50/40/90 in a season (50% from the field, 40% from 3, 90% at the line). He was, at times, the second best player on that team, and while foot injuries kept him out of chunks of the past few seasons, he has always bounced back and been very productive on the floor.

Milwaukee most likely didn’t want to give him up, but ran into issues with cap space after re-signing their other free agents. This opened the door for teams to try and steal Brogdon from the Bucks. He was a restricted free agent, meaning the Bucks would be able to match any offer another team gave him. This process can often become toxic, as teams will offer front-loaded or “poison pill” contracts that would severely hamper the player’s current team if they were to match, thus “stealing” the player away.

In an interesting move rarely seen in today’s NBA, Pacers owner Herb Simon reached out to Milwaukee ownership looking to make a deal for Brogdon. Herb said he doesn’t believe in “poaching” players from other teams and wanted to create a win-win situation for both teams. This is how the sign and trade for the picks came into being. While some fans and analysts may question this, it made sense.

First off, by getting the deal done in the first day of free agency, the Pacers had the money and knowledge to pursue other free agents since they didn’t have to wait for the Bucks to match or reject the offer sheet.

Secondly, this showed that the Pacers and Herb Simon care how business is conducted in the NBA. It portrayed the Pacers as a classy organization, one that was willing to do things professionally and fairly, something not always seen in today’s NBA.

This all amounts to the Pacers getting their perfect point guard of the future. There wasn’t a single other player on the market this off-season that appears to fit better next to Oladipo. Brogdon has an incredibly high basketball IQ, can defend guards and wings, can pass, shoot, and get his own shot, and is arguably the most selfless player in the league.

If it is possible to ace an entrance interview, Malcolm did. I highly recommend anyone with 22 minutes to spare to watch his introductory press conference with the Pacers. He stresses how excited he is to be with the team, his commitment to helping Vic be a superstar every year, his charity work in Africa, and shows what a class act he really is.

I can’t think of a better signing the Pacers could have made this off-season and look forward to watching him play alongside Vic for the coming years.