13:55 ET
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Tim BontempsESPN
The Boston Celtics acquired Indiana Pacers’ Malcolm Brogdon on Friday, ESPN sources told Adrian Wojnarowski, offering the kind of game base that basketball operations president Brad Stevens and coach Ime Udoka believed they needed to raise. the franchise as a championship candidate.
The Pacers receive a 2023 first-round pick and five Celtics players in return, including center-back Daniel Theis and 2021 first-round pick Aaron Nesmith, sources told Wojnarowski.
Stevens specifically identified game creation as a problem in his postseason session with reporters after the Celtics’ loss to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
“I think we need a little more play,” Stevens said earlier this month. “I think that’s real … We have to make sure we keep playing with rhythm. When we’re at our best, we play with rhythm.
“… But there’s no doubt, in this league, the more guys they can play offensively, the better. And the challenge again is to make sure you do what you do on the sidelines of our squad, we have a unique identity and we have a uniqueness in our size and our ability to be versatile across the board, so we need to keep that in mind when we join our team.But if we can keep it up and add a little play, yes, definitely , you want to do this “.
No doubt the Celtics added some when they landed 29-year-old Brogdon, who averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 33 games last season with Indiana.
The versatile 6-foot-5 goalie not only helps Boston in various ways offensively, both as a passenger and a three-point shooter in his career, but is another long, open defense to add to a grain stable. guards for the Celtics that includes current defensive player Marcus Smart and Derrick White, whom Boston acquired on a change other than the February change deadline.
Boston was also able to land Brogdon without sacrificing any of the top eight players in its playoff rotation. The Celtics could also add a second player in the coming days, as sources told Wojnarowski that once the San Antonio Spurs complete the long-awaited release of striker Danilo Gallinari, their preference is to join the Celtics after remove waivers.
These additions will also address other needs (depth and scoring from the bench) that Stevens noted once the season was over.
“I think we have to walk a little bit along a fine line,” Stevens said then. “I think teams are fragile. I think the way teams work together and work together is fragile. And I think your identity as a team, when you find one that is successful, that we’ve done this year on the defensive side. of the court and when we were at our best sharing the ball offensively, these things are fragile.
“So just adding it doesn’t mean you don’t get something out of the group. And changing important parts of the group doesn’t mean that it doesn’t totally take your identity and change it in a direction that’s not so successful. And “So it’s a very fine line. If you ask me now what we need, I’d like to have a little more score – constant score – off the bench. I think we have some short-term needs. There.”
Meanwhile, Indiana continues to reorient its roster around its young Tyrese Haliburton backcourt, which the Pacers acquired on last season’s change deadline in a deal for Domantas Sabonis with the Sacramento Kings, and rookie Bennedict Mathurin, last week’s sixth NBA general team. draft.
Theis averaged 8.2 points and 4.9 rebounds in 47 games between Houston and Boston last season, while Nesmith, a first-round pick in 2020, averaged 3.8 points in 52 games. .
The contracts of Fitts, Stauskas and Morgan must be guaranteed for the agreement to work under NBA salary cap rules.
Brogdon was also re-elected in March for a three-year term as vice president of the NBA Players Association Executive Committee.