Forsberg: Why Brogdon deserves Sixth Man award over Knicks’ Quickley originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
In the immediate aftermath of being traded to the Boston Celtics, Malcolm Brogdon promised to embrace a reserve role. Sitting at the podium at his introductory press conference at the Auerbach Center in July, Brogdon said he was ready to “sacrifice to win.”
It’s easy to make that declaration in the summer months when you first arrive to a new team. But Brogdon has never wavered from his decree.
Nearing the finish line of his first season in green, all 67 of Brogdon’s appearances have come in a reserve role, where he’s thrived as a steadying force for Boston’s bench and been every bit the missing piece that the Celtics coveted after coming up short in the NBA Finals last season.
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Entering the final weekend of the 2022-23 regular season, Brogdon finds himself jockeying with New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley for the Sixth Man of the Year award. Buoyed by New York’s surge during the second half of the season, Quickley has shuffled to the betting favorite near the finish line of the season.
Quickley has been fantastic and very much deserves consideration for the honor. But no one in the league has better embodied the spirit of the Sixth Man award like Brogdon. Despite being a face of the Pacers over the previous three seasons, Brogdon has embraced being a complementary piece to Boston’s established core.
Coming off the bench, Brogdon scored 29 points to help the Celtics secure the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference in a win over the Raptors on Wednesday night. Much of the postgame conversation centered on Brogdon’s candidacy for the Sixth Man award.
For his part, Brogdon has consistently contended that winning is far more important than any individual accomplishment. But teammates have begun stumping for Brogdon because of his willingness to sacrifice his own stats for the betterment of the team.
“Malcolm, any given night, he can come out and be one of the best players on the floor,” said Jaylen Brown. “His decision-making, his poise, his athleticism — Malcolm is definitely a game-changer for us being on the ball or off. He finds ways to make an effect on the game and, games like today, where you don’t pay attention to him, he’ll light you up. That’s super key.
“It’s tough coming off the bench, I’m sure. It’s been a process for him. I think this is probably the first time he’s ever been asked or ever had to come off the bench in his career, and he’s accepted that role and he’s been great. I think he should be one of the front runners for Sixth Man of the Year.”
Sixth Man of the Year has routinely been reserved for volume scorers making the majority of their appearances in a reserve role. Since the 2004-05 season, a shooting guard has won the award in 16 of the past 18 years, with Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams combining for six of those honors. Only big men Lamar Odom (2010-11) and Montrezl Harris (2019-20) have broken up the pattern.
Make no mistake, Brogdon and Quickley top the conversation this year in large part because of their scoring output, but unlike some me-first shooters, they also impact winning for their teams.
The case for Brogdon centers on his output in that reserve role. His 1,000 total points this season ranks third among all bench players, trailing only Sacramento’s Malik Monk (1,037 points in 76 games) and Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin (1,028 points in 61 games). Quickley has 735 points in 60 appearances off the bench, and ranks 7th overall in total bench points.
Brogdon ranks 95th overall in the NBA in scoring averaging at 14.9 points per game. Quickley, even with the benefit of some loud nights while in a starting role for the Knicks, still ranks four spots behind him at 14.6 points per game.
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Malcolm Brogdon leads Immanuel Quickley in bench points and games played in a reserve role.
Which player has carried their team better with and without stars alongside? For this exercise, we’re dividing each player’s on-court time based on how much they shared the court with each team’s two superstars: Jayson Tatum and Brown in Boston, and Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson in New York.
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Here’s how Malcolm Brogdon and Immanuel Quickley have fared while playing with their team’s stars.
Last season, the Celtics had a minus-8.7 net rating in 493 minutes without either Jay on the court. Head coach Ime Udoka pretty much had to have either Tatum or Brown on the court at all times for the team to not sink. This year, Brogdon isn’t just keeping the Celtics afloat in those non-Jays minutes, he’s allowing them to extend leads. In instances without either Brogdon or the Jays on the court, Boston has a minus-0.4 net rating over 194 minutes this season.
It’s interesting that Quickley has played nearly 700 minutes without the stars next to him. His net rating suffers in those instances. It’s offset by just how good he’s been when playing with only one star, including a sizzling +16.9 net rating during 248 total minutes alongside just Brunson.
Brogdon’s numbers are a little murkier. He’s been better in those instances without Tatum and Brown, lifting Boston to a solid +2.9 rating in the rare instances without the duo. Weirdly, Brogdon has struggled when sharing the court with Brown; the duo’s net rating is nearly neutral (+0.02) in 511 minutes together. The Brogdon/Tatum duo is at +11.2 in 642 minutes together.
Watching Brogdon nightly helps accentuate his ability to pick spots to be particularly aggressive. Playing without Tatum on Wednesday against the Raptors, Brogdon went up a level and helped shoulder the scoring load in a game thin on offense. Brogdon also has a knack for knowing when to attack the basket, particularly when Boston’s offense goes stagnant, and he’s a luxury when 3-point shots are not falling.
But Brogdon has embraced Boston’s 3-point attack as well. He ranks fourth in the NBA in 3-point percentage at 44.4 percent; that’s 5.7 percent above his career average and 13.2 percent above his 2021-22 output with the Pacers.
Both Brogdon and Quickley are deserving candidates and distinguished themselves from the pack this season. The closing argument for Brogdon, in such a tight race, might be that Boston is going to finish with the second-best record in basketball and at least six more wins than the Knicks.
Whether he hoists the John Havlicek Trophy or not, Brogdon’s season will ultimately be judged on his ability to shore up one of Boston’s biggest weaknesses during its Finals run. His ball security and scoring output could go a long way towards ailing two of Boston’s most prominent issues during its playoff run last season.
Whether he gets the award or not, Brogdon lived up to his promise to embrace his role and he thrived in it for the Celtics.