Indiana Pacers: Winners and losers from the Malcolm Brogdon trade

Indiana Pacers: Winners and losers from the Malcolm Brogdon trade

Winner: Boston Celtics

After ending the 2021-22 season as runners-up to the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics took another leap forward, this time using outside help to further bolster their championship cause for the next campaign.

Adding Malcolm Brogdon fills a big chunk of what the Celtics lacked: a dynamic and legitimate playmaker who can soak possessions as the prime playmaker and take pressure away from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. His basketball IQ, veteran experience, and defensive malleability are nothing to scoff at, either.

Combine this with their latest addition of Danilo Gallinari, and Boston suddenly touts one of, if not the best and deepest roster in basketball. Just in the backcourt alone, opposing teams will have to deal with Brown, Brogdon, Marcus Smart, Derrick White, and even Payton Pritchard. Yikes.

Loser: Los Angeles Lakers

Over the last month or so, Lakers fans, LeBron James fans, Russell Westbrook detractors, small-market haters, and even big-name media heads, have joined forces at poking the Indiana Pacers and trying to force a scenario where the team trades Malcolm Brogdon, Buddy Hield, and/or Myles Turner for, well, meh.

Bad news for the Lakers though, as the Pacers picked their archnemesis as the destination for Brogdon. With Hield and Turner very likely to command a strong pool of potential bidders on their own, Indiana should have no shortage of assets to choose from.

If anything, this crashes any possibility of the Pacers engaging the Lakers on a Westbrook-centric deal as a salary dump (and a headache subrogor).