Everyone's best guess on what specifically Brogdon is mad about

[obnoxiousmime]

Who knows? Haven’t heard anything from him yet. I will say that I can understand if he feels his injury was not handled well by the team.
If he’s upset about the trade, he needs to get over it. Trades happen.
All he has to do is look at Smart. He got traded and yet he still had a bunch of Boston people at his wedding, including GM, coach, owners, and players. Although he was apparently hurt, he understands these things happen.
Again, I have no idea if he is actually upset, and if so why

Until I hear something from Brogdon expressing dissatisfaction, it's all media gossip, to me.

Agree.

Also agree!

Ditto!

Malcolm Brogdon is one of the most professional athletes in sports today.  He's been that way since he stepped on the floor at UVa.

He knows this is a business.  He knows nothing good could come from being a malcontent.

He's got maybe three more years in the league being a productive player.  He's not going to start burning bridges.

This is all nonsense.

I didn't say anything about him "burning bridges," being a "malcontent," or behaving unprofessionally. It's possible to feel slighted by a team that tries to trade you after you chose to come here when the Pacers gave you two trade options. It's possible that the Celtics didn't handle his injury well or that a disagreement in the diagnosis has frustrated him. It's possible that his disappointing play in the Heat series and the criticism he received before the injury was made public irked him. It's possible that the way Mazzulla had him play was different from what he thought he was joining when Udoka was still the coach. It's possible that he felt the defensive scheme left him vulnerable because he was switched onto an island too often which led to criticism that he was a defensive liability in the playoffs.

If nothing happens, I expect him to report and say all the right things and perform to the best of his ability. However, I do think the reports that he was upset after the aborted trade didn't just come out of nowhere. He's a professional, but what if he feels the Celtics are being unprofessional towards him?

Again, I'm not rumor mongering or anything like that. I'm just wondering aloud if there might be something more to this.

[Vermont Green]

We have gone from Brogdon is upset that he was almost traded (which would be a pretty reasonable thing to be upset about), to his injury is far worse than they are telling us, to he is upset that he was forced by Mazzula to play in the playoffs, which exacerbated his injury.

All of this, to varying degrees, is possible, but I am not that concerned about any of it.  That could change, and we will all know a lot more soon, when Brogdon does or doesn't report to camp, and his elbow either is or isn't healed.

This latest thing, that what Brogdon is mad about is that they made him play in the playoffs and it is somehow Mazzula's fault, or another example of his bad coaching, just seems silly to me.  Brogdon was clearly impacted by the injury, his play declined, and maybe he shouldn't have been playing but I am sure he was playing because he told the team he could play.  If he didn't want to play, he wouldn't have played.

Now it could be all related, in his mind, after playing through an injury, that maybe turned out to be worse than the Doctors thought, then he is almost traded, but I think if he wanted to be out of Boston, he would be already gone.

[tonydelk]

I'm in the boat that any of what is being report is possible until the Player speaks for himself to set the record straight.  Malcolm has been reported working out with Al in Atlanta.  Malcolm has also not addressed via twitter or any other outlet that these reports are wrong.  I don't know his social media presence but nothing has been stated that he is refuting any of these claims.  The fact that he's working out but not with the rest of the team can lead to major speculation he isn't happy.  This team has championship aspirations.  The entire team is at the facility working out except one player.  I do believe something is going on because no one on either side is talking about it.  Until they do all options are on the table.

If I had to speculate I'd say he's p---ed.  He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who will throw a tantrum but the fact that he's not with his teammates is making a statement nonetheless.  Just like the JB speculation on whether he wanted to stay in Boston or not.  He never came out and said he did or did not.  Until he signed his new contract it was easy to speculate that it could go either way.  Same with this situation.  he could still get traded or he can report and say it's all water under the bridge.  Until that happens this is an issue hanging over the team.

[Roy H.]

I'm in the boat that any of what is being report is possible until the Player speaks for himself to set the record straight.  Malcolm has been reported working out with Al in Atlanta.  Malcolm has also not addressed via twitter or any other outlet that these reports are wrong.  I don't know his social media presence but nothing has been stated that he is refuting any of these claims.  The fact that he's working out but not with the rest of the team can lead to major speculation he isn't happy.  This team has championship aspirations.  The entire team is at the facility working out except one player.  I do believe something is going on because no one on either side is talking about it.  Until they do all options are on the table.

If I had to speculate I'd say he's p---ed.  He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who will throw a tantrum but the fact that he's not with his teammates is making a statement nonetheless.  Just like the JB speculation on whether he wanted to stay in Boston or not.  He never came out and said he did or did not.  Until he signed his new contract it was easy to speculate that it could go either way.  Same with this situation.  he could still get traded or he can report and say it's all water under the bridge.  Until that happens this is an issue hanging over the team.

Why is the burden of proof on Brogdon to disprove allegations that come from "sources" like Gary Washburn?  The next correct thing he reports will be his first.

It sounds a lot like "prove you're not a witch".

[timpiker]

He might be upset for still being trade bait.

[celticinorlando]

That he was on the verge of being traded and might still be

[Vermont Green]

Brogdon is mad about all the false reports that he is mad.

[Big333223]

If the Jrue deal is as reported, it feels like an overpay to me. This suggests that maybe Brogdon was unhappy and Brad felt like he needed to deal him.

It's conjecture but it's as much evidence as any I've seen.

[ozgod]

Whatever it was, I guess it's moot now 

[Roy H.]

The disconnect with Brogdon was exacerbated when Joe Mazzulla told reporters that White would be the starting point guard following Brown’s contract extension news conference on July 26. Brogdon, who has a strong relationship with White, anticipated the Smart trade would leave the door open for a competition to earn the starting point guard spot. – via Jared Weiss @ The Athletic

[Atzar]

The disconnect with Brogdon was exacerbated when Joe Mazzulla told reporters that White would be the starting point guard following Brown’s contract extension news conference on July 26. Brogdon, who has a strong relationship with White, anticipated the Smart trade would leave the door open for a competition to earn the starting point guard spot. – via Jared Weiss @ The Athletic

Yeah I still don't entirely buy any of this.  He's mad about the attempted trade.  No wait, he's mad about the way his injury was handled.  No actually he wants to start now that Smart is gone. 

We'll hear from Malcolm at media days soon enough, and I'm sure the question will be asked directly then.  Until then, I feel like this is the media throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks. 

[obnoxiousmime]

https://theathletic.com/4916611/2023/10/01/jrue-holiday-celtics-malcolm-brogdon/

The article mostly just recounts the timeline of what happened, but it does confirm a few things:

1: After everything that happened, Brogdon was willing to come back but did prefer a change in scenery:

While Brad Stevens worked to repair it over the past few months, reintegrating a player after they were widely presumed to be traded presented a significant challenge. The Sixth Man of the Year spent the summer wanting a new start elsewhere but did not want to hold out at training camp, according to team and league sources who were granted anonymity so they could speak freely.

2: The injury rehab and the odd rumors that it was more serious did bother Brogdon. Since it doesn't help the organization to have leaked that kind of info to the press, it's still unclear why/how that all happened.

But as the ill-fated agreement was coming together, rumors began to circulate that Brogdon required surgery on the partially torn elbow tendon that ended his season early, and reports suggested there might have been more injury concerns that could put his long-term health in jeopardy. Because he was planning to simply rehab the elbow and the other areas of concern in his lower body felt relatively fine, according to sources briefed on his recovery plan, Brogdon became increasingly frustrated.

3: Brogdon was a little miffed that Joe just announced White was the starter at the Brown presser. Brogdon was expecting to be able to compete for the role. NICE ONE, JOE.

The disconnect with Brogdon was exacerbated when Joe Mazzulla told reporters that White would be the starting point guard following Brown’s contract extension news conference on July 26. Brogdon, who has a strong relationship with White, anticipated the Smart trade would leave the door open for a competition to earn the starting point guard spot. But White was granted the role after becoming one of the most important players on the team last year.

4: It also states that all of Brogdon's communication this offseason has been with Stevens only (in other words, not Joe or any other coaches) and that while he was prepping to be back as training camp approached, he STILL preferred to go somewhere else.

According to team sources, Brogdon only had communication with Brad Stevens during the offseason, with Stevens flying to Atlanta to meet with Brogdon in early August. Stevens worked throughout the offseason to mend the relationship with Brogdon and made progress. The sixth man eventually was willing to rejoin the team, even if he still preferred a fresh start elsewhere. The now fully healthy Brogdon returned to work out in the Boston area ahead of training camp in late September, while the Celtics continued to engage in trade discussions surrounding Brogdon and Holiday, according to team and league sources.

I think some of the unspoken things here are that Brogdon still saw being a sixth man as a sacrifice for this championship run, not just a role he would automatically be in from now on in his career. The Celtics clearly didn't think he was good enough to become the starter, either next to White or instead of White. That mattered to him more than Celts fans realized.

Secondly, I think the extreme scoring role he was in probably was not his preference. I don't think he liked only shooting 3s or driving to the basket, but he did it for a year because that's what Mazzulla wanted. That's just my own theory, though.

Finally, the surgery or rehab thing leaking out is still confusing. Who leaked it and why? The fact that it upset Brogdon so much seems to suggest he thought the Celtics had something to do with it, even if there would seemingly be no motivation for them to lower Brogdon's trade value.