Former Pacer Malcolm Brogdon could miss November battle against old team

Guard Malcolm Brogdon spent three seasons with the Indiana Pacers from 2019 to 2022. During his time with the team, he played some of the best basketball of his career. He was the Pacers' leading scorer during the 2020-21 campaign and started all 146 games of his tenure in Indiana.

Since then, he has played for the Boston Celtics and the Portland Trail Blazers and is now a member of the Washington Wizards. The two teams do not face off against one another until November 24. While this should be an exciting time for Pacers fans to see Brogdon back in Indiana once again, the latest news suggests he could be in danger of not facing his old team this early on.

Malcolm Brogdon out at least a month after suffering hand injury

According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (subscription required), Brogdon is likely to miss at least the next month due to a hand injury he suffered on Saturday.

Given the relatively long re-evaluation period, as well as Brogdon's well-documented injury history, there is a legitimate chance the Virginia alum will miss the November game against the Pacers. If this does happen, the next chance he has to face off against his old team would be February 12 (assuming he remains with the Wizards up to this point).

Since the Pacers traded Brogdon to the Celtics during the 2022 offseason, the guard has faced the Pacers four times. This includes twice in Boston and twice in Portland. In those games, he is 3-1 against the Pacers.

For the past year, Brogdon has been a popular trade candidate. Just two seasons ago, the Atlanta native won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award in his only season with the Celtics. That following summer, the Celtics traded him to Portland in exchange for Jrue Holiday, who helped them win an NBA championship just a few months ago.

Brogdon is still a good basketball player when healthy, and he has shown a willingness to be a team player, playing in whatever role is asked of him. However, injuries have been a concern for the 31-year-old his whole career.

In his eight-year career to this point, Brogdon has appeared in more than 70 games in a season just once--his rookie campaign with the Milwaukee Bucks. Additionally, last season, he only appeared in 39 games, missing the entire final two months of the season.

Unfortunately for the former Pacer, it seems that this new injury will sideline him for quite some time to start the 2024-25 NBA season.