Bradley Beal is a name that many teams, including the Milwaukee Bucks, have their eye on as the former All-Star nears a buyout with Phoenix. If he signs elsewhere, the front office will have to turn its attention to alternatives, and Wizards free agent Malcolm Brogdon is one possible Plan B. Yet, the Bucks should be cautious in courting him.
Brogdon's Injury History Can't Be Ignored by Bucks
Per NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Bucks are indeed among a handful of teams eyeing Brogdon as the free agent remains unsigned.
Among free agent guards, Beal would be the top target on the wish lists of many contenders. Even in a down year for the Suns, he averaged 17 points and 3.7 assists while shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 38.6 percent beyond the arc. Although past his prime, the 32-year-old remains a highly productive scorer.
In the wake of the Clippers' trade sending Norman Powell to Miami, Los Angeles is gaining steam as a likely Beal destination. Powell's departure leaves an opening in the backcourt. While the Bucks have been linked to Beal in the past, they are probably not the frontrunners to acquire him despite Miami likely leaving the sweepstakes.
On paper, Brogdon is a suitable, if less exciting, replacement choice. In fact, he is among the better of Milwaukee's remaining options. Hopefully, his unflattering 2024-25 season in Phoenix was mostly due to injury and unfavorable environment.
The problem, however, is the first part of the above premise. Injury is the number one concern with Brogdon. Over the past two seasons, he has played just 63 games. Covering nine years, his career average is barely 50. Since his rookie season in Milwaukee, he would have satisfied only once the NBA's new 65-game award eligibility threshold.
While Brogdon has generally produced when healthy, averaging 15.3 points in his career, he never reached Beal's peak. Heading into year 14, Beal remains the more capable volume scorer, even after posting his lowest points per game in a decade.
Of course, he has his own well-documented health issues. For the last six years, he has, like Brogdon, been roughly a 50-game player. In each of his two seasons in Phoenix, he took the court 53 times. The team who signs Beal will do so knowing he is unlikely to provide a full season's production.
In Brogdon, the Bucks would get lesser upside with the same or, based on recent years, even greater injury risk. As a less prominent name, buried on bad teams, Brogdon's health woes have not attracted much attention. Beal, a three-time All-Star playing in Phoenix, cannot escape the injury narrative microscope.
Signing either player to be the second option, only to have them sidelined for more than half the year, would border on disaster for Milwaukee. Unfortunately, it isn't all that unlikely in either case. At least Beal would give them a higher ceiling. Brogdon is still a viable option, but the Bucks front office should keep his risk-reward ratio in mind as they comb the offseason market.