When the Boston Celtics struck a deal with the Indiana Pacers to acquire Malcolm Brogdon last summer, Aaron Nesmith was an afterthought. Brad Stevens had moved swiftly to ensure he resolved a weakness that the Golden State Warriors had callously exposed time and time again throughout the six-game series.
If that deal meant parting ways with a former 14th pick who had struggled to cement a role in the rotation, along with Boston’s on-again, off-again big man in Daniel Theis, a slew of end-of-bench talent that was due to enter free agency, and a first-round pick that was never going to get developmental minutes, then so be it.