Indiana Pacers: Constructing a deal to acquire a star point guard for Malcolm Brogdon
It is not a reach at all to say that Malcolm Brogdon is the Indiana Pacers’ best point guard since Mark Jackson. A legitimate All-Star contender at his best, The President brings loads of headiness, steady playmaking, defense, and shooting from the 1 spot.
After coming over from Milwaukee in the summer of 2019, the former Rookie of the Year has been the undisputed alpha in the backcourt for the Pacers. In two seasons with Indiana, Brogdon is tallying 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per contest while only turning the ball over 2.2 times per game on average.
Under normal circumstances, those are numbers that scream, “He’s a keeper!”. But the impressive figures that the five-year veteran is recording are only the tip of the iceberg in discussing his value to the team. Trade speculations, at least for fans, sell like hotcakes, and for quasi-reasonable reason (hint: injuries).
Malcolm Brogdon’s on-court production is obviously very important to the Indiana Pacers engine, as evidenced by his 25.9 usage rate which leads the Navy and Gold. However, it is clear that if he is the main cog on offense, the team’s ceiling will take a nosedive. His personal numbers also solidify this, as he is merely converting on shooting splits of 44.7/36.4/87.9, a substantial drop-off from when he joined the illustrious 50-40-90 club in Milwaukee.
Brogdon is a player who is more effective as a secondary playmaker, a role that he killed as a Buck despite being relatively underused. Problem is, he is and will be the primary ball handler for the Indiana Pacers, which is the main driving force for him coming to the Circle City. At first glance, this isn’t so bad, especially with the offense manned by a borderline All-Star who rarely turns it over, but the inarguable fact stands: he is not a pure point guard.
The emergence of Caris LeVert as a dependable go-to scorer in the backcourt creates cushion and fortifies reason for trading Brogdon. This team clearly needs a pure facilitator to better serve the team’s offensive weapons. Thus, let’s construct a deal that will maximize the heady guard’s value.