Milwaukee Bucks: Regrading the infamous Malcolm Brogdon trade

The on-court impact of the Malcolm Brogdon trade for the Milwaukee Bucks

The trade was also seen as them making a choice that because they had already signed fellow guard Eric Bledsoe to an extension, they were choosing Bledsoe over Brogdon. That is an interesting angle to take.

If the Bucks believed that Brogdon was worth going into the tax for, they would have matched the offer. They just didn’t think he was worth the contract that the Pacers gave him. The Bucks gave Bledsoe $15 million less than what Brogdon got from the Pacers, so they probably had a number closer to that in mind for Brogdon.

I don’t think they liked Bledsoe more than Brogdon, I think it was more of an issue that the contract was more than what they had set as their value for Brogdon. But to the actual on-court impact of the deal.

Brogdon has gone on to be an All-Star caliber player for the Pacers in his first two seasons there. Across 110 games, all starts, Brogdon has averaged 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.5 assists. He has blossomed in a larger role, with his usage rate going up by six percent compared to his career usage rate in Milwaukee.

There is an argument to be had whether Brogdon would have produced these numbers as a member of the Bucks, but that remains to be seen. They should have given Brogdon a bigger role, but I don’t think he becomes the high-usage player that he is now. In his final season as a Buck, his usage was over 20 percent for the first time, but it was still behind Bledsoe, Khris Middleton, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. His usage rate in Indiana (25.6 percent) is the same as Middleton’s the last two seasons, that simply wouldn’t have happened with the Bucks.

There’s no doubt that Brogdon would have been a big help for the Bucks in the bubble. Even last year if they managed to keep him around after the Jrue Holiday trade (if they still made it), he would have been a great fit. But I don’t think Brogdon becomes the player he is now on the Bucks and that’s part of what Brogdon wanted as well, to maximize his talents and have a bigger role, something the Bucks couldn’t give him.