According to Brad Stevens, the entire squad is fully healthy, and while Brogdon was furious following the near-trade to the Clippers in July, he has been in contact with the organisation in recent weeks.
Malcolm Brogdon is back in Boston, according to Brad Stevens, and will be healthy and ready for training camp. He spent the summer mending his elbow, avoided surgery, and is now ready to start the season.
Stevens admitted that Brogdon was displeased with the nearly-complete three-team trade that would have sent him to the Clippers. That deal fell through after the Clippers voiced concerns about Brogdon’s health, and the Celtics front management reacted late at night by trading Marcus Smart to Memphis in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis from the Wizards.
“I would say he had every right to feel [upset],” Stevens remarked. “We mentioned it last summer. But he’s a good pro, so we’ve had multiple conversations. He can hardly wait to get started. We’re excited to get started, and here we go.”
Given the certainty and detail with which the initial tread was reported, it’s no surprise that the dynamic with Brogdon got tense as a result. Head coach Joe Mazzulla briefly discussed the organization’s connection with Brogdon in July, when Jaylen Brown signed his supermax agreement, and hinted to the idea that the franchise was intentionally focusing on healing that relationship.
“There is a healing process, there is a listening process and to see where we are at and where we have to get to,” Mazzulla told the press. “We’ve had some conversations as an organisation but at the same time, we understand that’s the situation that it was and as the healing process goes on, we will move forward as well as you can.”
Then, in recent weeks, there has been significant conjecture about Brogdon’s injury status and relationship with the squad.
To begin, Washburn portrayed Brogdon as “angry” with the squad and stated that “communication between the two sides has not been fruitful.”
Then, ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne speculated that “a lot of this has to do with what’s going on with his elbow,” prompting others to think that Brogdon was furious because to an injury mistreatment.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Celtics have been shopping Malcolm Brogdon since June and may enter the Jrue Holiday sweepstakes (Jrue was acquired by the Blazers in the blockbuster trade that landed Damian Lillard in Milwaukee, but is likely to be traded to a contender soon).
It’s unknown whether any of this rumour is true, and while Media Day on Monday will provide more information, Stevens’ words appear to be a positive indication.
Stevens also told the Globe in the same chat with Gary Washburn that Porzingis, the Celtics’ big offseason acquisition, is anticipated to be ready for training camp, which begins next week. He missed the entire FIBA World Cup due to plantar fasciitis, a kind of heel pain that can become chronic in some cases.
Porzingis content began to appear on the team’s official social media channels earlier this week.
