Who will take over as the veteran leader for the Indiana Pacers?
By Ryan Eggers
Can Malcolm Brogdon bring his Milwaukee experience to the table?
While Malcolm Brogdon is closing in on his 27th birthday, this season with the Indiana Pacers will actually only be his fourth. He doesn’t tout the same amount of NBA memories as a guy like Holiday does, but the NBA experience he does have is quite fruitful.
He has a Rookie of the Year award under his belt, the second-most playoff experience on the team, and a recent campaign that included the best regular-season record in the league, a 50-40-90 shooting split, and a tough second-round exit.
These all certainly sound like beneficial tools for a veteran leader, and as a point guard leadership should feel natural. The only problem? He hardly plays like a point guard.
As a member of the Bucks, ballhandling and passing duties mostly fell on the hands of Eric Bledsoe, as Brogdon used his elite shooting and off-ball skills to keep the offense moving. He doesn’t have the knack for leading the team, either, as that’s been Giannis Antetokounpo’s job since Brogdon’s career began.
The same scenario could surely come into play with Oladipo taking Bledsoe’s ballhandling and Giannis’ leadership duties, but Brogdon gets a fair opportunity to step up in wake of Oladipo’s injury. For a good 2-3 months, Brogdon should have the keys to the offense — what is yet to be seen is how he’ll use it.
The odds of him emerging as the team’s veteran leader are probably pretty slim. He has plenty of leadership in his personality, from being the Vice President of the NBPA Executive Committee to his activist work, but he’s probably not yet in line to be the leader of the Indiana Pacers. It’s not as much of a mark against him as it is an endorsement of Pacers veterans like Turner and Oladipo.