These two Celtics will be crucial to unlocking Kristaps Porzingis’ potential

The Other Celtic

Another dominant collection of chatter that has been surrounding the Celtics is the status of Malcolm Brogdon. The 30-year-old suffered a partially torn elbow during Boston’s run in May, with his dream of a first Celtics season concluding. When the team almost sent him to the Clippers during their day of fireworks last month, it was also Boston that pivoted away from LAC. They couldn’t get his injured physical done in time ahead of the Porzingis midnight opt-in deadline.

Brad Stevens voiced Brogdon’s worthiness as the newest core member of the team. Rightfully so, acknowledging who just exited at the same position with an even greater image paid attention to.

Brogdon added an entirely new philosophy, metric, and principle to the Celtics’ offense, helping Boston convert up until the playoffs. Besides Joe Mazzulla’s freakish offense strategies, Brogdon’s transformation of the team helped amplify their new tools. Solidifying an elite offense that went from historically being one of the best defensive teams in the previous Finals to evening it out on the other end and then some.

Through the first few months, numbers-wise, Boston had the best offense in NBA history’s modern era at one point. The recipe for Brogdon/White with Porzingis can elevate the Celtics, making them way scarier than one would imagine.

To emphasize Brogdon’s offensive alteration some more, as said, he won Sixth Man in his first season. He averaged over 14 and was second in 3P% throughout the year, with Horford at 44%. He is a rare miss, as he shoots over 50 from midrange. Words would not describe how calmly he masters all three fundamentals at an incredibly efficient level, with a good defense to go with it.

He was over 15 in the postseason prior to the injury, reaching 50% or more from three. With those limitations, Mazzulla had to place him under and Smart got the benefit of the doubt, it’s not easy for a former top-option on playoff teams to willingly take a backseat and come off the bench. He and White had to be inappropriately on a leash due to Smart’s late game and a lot of crucial playoff moments playing into Mazzulla’s struggles via prematurity.

As Brogdon labeled it, he did an excellent job checking his ego at the door, as true professionals do, with his willingness to be embedded in Boston’s foundation of winning. While Celtics’ fans were devastated by losing a fan favorite in Smart, it was maybe a blessing in disguise to imagine Brogdon in an enhanced role, similar to what he starred in alongside Domantas Sabonis in Indiana.