Count veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon among those who are enthusiastic about the Pacers‘ decision to hire former Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren as their new head coach. Appearing on ESPN’s The Jump on Thursday, Brogdon said he’d had lunch with Bjorkgren earlier in the day and is looking forward to getting to work with the first-time head coach.
“He’s going to be terrific,” Brogdon said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “Toronto has a great culture, as we all know, and a lot of bright young minds, and he’s one of them, so I’m super excited to have him on board.”
Brogdon also told The Jump’s panel that he’s working this offseason on expanding his game by improving his shot off the dribble. And after missing at least 18 games in each of the past three seasons due to injuries, he’s hoping he can stay healthier in 2020/21.
“My only fully healthy season has been my rookie year, and then the past three years I’ve sat out 15 to 20 games,” Brogdon said. “So that’s really hurt me, and I think it’s really hurt my team.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- After months of consideration, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com offers up what he thinks are the Cavaliers‘ top five options with the No. 5 selection, starting with trading down. Fedor – who assumes that LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, and James Wiseman won’t be available at No. 5 – contends that Isaac Okoro and Onyeka Okongwu should be the Cavs’ top targets if they keep the pick.
- Within a mailbag, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic considers whether the probability of fans not being in arenas for 2020/21 should influence the Pistons‘ roster decisions at all this offseason — not having to worry about selling tickets to 41 home games means the team could be more willing to bottom out.
- While the Bulls may explore trading up or down in the lottery, Sam Smith of Bulls.com expects the team to ultimately stand pat at No. 4.