Milwaukee Bucks: Grades and reactions for the Malcolm Brogdon sign and trade

What the Bucks traded away

The combined influence of Jon Horst as general manager and Mike Budenholzer as head coach has led to the Bucks’ player recruitment mantra becoming “pass, dribble, shoot”. It was highlighted as a priority in free agency last summer, offered up as the reason for why Donte DiVincenzo was drafted 17th overall, and likely will continue to inform much of what Milwaukee does.

On that front, no player on Milwaukee’s roster was better than Brogdon at combining those three elements at a really high level. And now he’s gone.

I’d argue that Brogdon was the Bucks’ second best player in the Conference Finals. The 26-year-old offered up consistent and varied offense in spite of being covered by All-Defensive caliber Raptors such as Danny Green, Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard, while he also performed admirably when tasked with slowing down Leonard on the opposite end of the floor. Considering he was just back from injury, that spoke volumes to just how good Brogdon has become.

Only nine players in the history of the NBA have completed a 50-40-90 season, and Brogdon joined that historic club last season with his sharpshooting exploits. For a team with two relative non-shooters in the starting lineup, the value of that gravity should not be overlooked in terms of spacing. Sure, Brook Lopez letting fly from 25-30 feet more obviously stretches the floor, but Brogdon was also a key cog of the offensive revolution the Bucks enjoyed last season.

Aside from his shooting, Brogdon proved himself to be a highly accomplished ball-handler and playmaker. In an ideal world, his NBA position would never be point guard, but his ability to pick up that share of responsibilities as an auxiliary option is invaluable. Not only did that allow Brogdon to create in the starting lineup and take pressure off the likes of Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, but it also led to the second unit thriving with Brogdon acting as that lineup’s alpha.

Also not to be lost in any appraisal of what Brogdon offered the Bucks is his incredible knack for getting to the rim and scoring. Brogdon is highly skilled when it comes to freezing his defender, and then driving by them to the rim. Even better, when he gets to the basket, he’s a highly efficient and skilled finisher who has mastered the art of reverse layups that cut off the shot blocker. That skill was important for Milwaukee when plays broke down and they simply needed a bucket, and in the playoffs there were certainly plenty of examples to fit that bill.

Beyond all of that, Brogdon is a natural leader, an incredibly well-liked teammate, and one of the smartest players in the NBA both on and off the court.

Even with a blank check, the Bucks would find it difficult to find a natural replacement for the varied contributions he can offer, which in the end likely dictated the lengths to which the Pacers were prepared to go to ensure they landed him.