What Brad Stevens said of the Celtics’ trade for Malcolm Brogdon
"His resume speaks for itself."
The Celtics were finally able to make a few of their initial offseason moves official on Saturday.
The big one, of course, was the trade for Malcolm Brogdon. Boston reportedly agreed to trade Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan, Nik Stauskas, and its 2023 first-round pick on July 1 but had to wait until Saturday to make the move official.
While analysts around the league already gave their thoughts on the Celtics’ big trade, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens finally gave his take on the move in a press release on Saturday.
“We would like to welcome Malcolm and his family to the Celtics,” Stevens said. “We are very excited about what Malcolm brings both on and off the court. His resume speaks for itself. He is the kind of playmaker, shooter, and impact defender that we need in our continued pursuit of Banner 18.”
Stevens will likely talk more on Brogdon’s exact role with the Celtics at a later date, but it’s already been reported that Boston plans to use Brogdon off the bench rather than as a starter.
The Celtics made a few other moves official on Saturday, announcing the re-signings of forward Sam Hauser and center Luke Kornet. They also announced that they signed guard JD Davison, who they selected in the second round of the draft in June, to a two-way deal, meaning he’ll split time with the G League Maine Celtics this season.
One move they didn’t announce was the signing of Danilo Gallinari. It was reported on July 1 that the Celtics will use the tax-payer mid-level exception to sign Gallinari once he clears waivers after his release from the Spurs. San Antonio didn’t waive him until Friday, meaning Boston can’t officially sign Gallinari until Sunday evening after 5 p.m.
Stevens commented though on the Hauser and Kornet re-signings.
“We are very excited that Sam chose to continue his journey with us,” Stevens said of Hauser. “He has a chance to make a real impact with his size, feel, and shooting – both stationary and on the move. He’s hard-working, unselfish, and competitive – a great combination for a young player.”
“We are thrilled that Luke chose to come back,” Stevens added on Kornet. “Luke is a skilled big who can play off the roll or pop and is a good rim protector on defense. On top of that, he’s always added value as the consummate pro who puts team above self.”
As Stevens alluded to in the press release, the Celtics are reportedly high on Hauser’s future as an NBA player. They declined his option for next season so they could re-sign him to a longer deal, which ended up being a three-year, $6 million contract.
Hauser, who joined the Celtics as an undrafted rookie prior to the 2021-22 season, has built his game around his 3-point shooting. He shot 40.7 percent from 3 during the regular season with the Maine Celtics and made 43.2 percent of his 3-pointers in 26 games with the Celtics last season.
Kornet figures to likely be just an end-of-the-bench signing, but could have a role if the Celtics don’t pick up another big man prior to the start of the season. With Theis gone, Kornet is currently the lone big man on the Celtics’ bench.
Once the Gallinari signing is official, the Celtics will have just three roster spots and a two-way spot open.
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