Malcolm Brogdon Reveals He Chose Celtics Trade Over Deal with Raptors

The Toronto Raptors nearly had a deal for Malcolm Brogdon this summer that could have added some much needed depth to the team's relatively thin backcourt this year.

It's unclear exactly what the Raptors were offering the Indiana Pacers, but 29-year-old point guard told Serius XM that he chose to be traded to Boston over Toronto and Washington.

“At the end of the day, we knew there was Boston, we knew Toronto we knew DC,” Brogdon said in an interview this week. “DC fell off after the draft since they were thinking about trading that 10th pick for me. Toronto and Boston popped up. We had a choice to pursue — there wasn’t an offer on the table yet from either of them but the Pacers came to me and said we could pursue either of them and which one would I rather pursue? I choose Boston.”

Brogdon said he thought the Celtics were "farther along" than Toronto and he preferred to play with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the heels of their NBA Finals run last season.

Boston didn't end up paying a hefty price for the oft-injured guard, sending Indiana just one 2023 first-round pick along with salary filler and 22-year-old Aaron Nesmith. The Raptors conceivably could have made a similar deal with a future first-round pick and a prospect such as Malachi Flynn.

Toronto didn't end up making any trades this summer, instead signing Otto Porter Jr., Juancho Hernangomez, and selecting Christian Koloko with the 33rd pick in the NBA Draft.

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