The difficult part of this analysis is given his (injury) history I can’t assume Brogdon for a full year in any comparison. But I get the idea and will offer up my two cents.
To begin, I’m not sure there was a bigger Brogdon fan on this website than me. I love his game and in a perfect world would have preferred that he remained a Buck.
However, the Bucks felt differently and I’m not sure it was just due to luxury tax implications. Maybe he was pissed he wasn’t the starting PG or that he didn’t get extended like Bledsoe did. Maybe he didn’t like the city. Maybe he requested to be dealt. Not sure. But I think the Bucks bought low and sold high. Meaning, if they didn’t have any intention of paying him 20MM+ per year over 5 years they extracted the most they could out of the move in the form of the three draft picks and also diverting less funds to backfill his production with Hill and Matthews. It also allowed them to add another competent big (Robin Lopez) to add depth to the frontcourt.
People tend to overlook how Toronto beat up the Bucks physically in that series and Milwaukee could not match their toughness and intensity especially in the paint. With R Lopez he won’t get pushed around by the likes of the Ibakas or Marc Gasols. It gives Milwaukee an option to feature a bigger, tougher lineup that they didn’t have in 2018/2019. It also becomes much more important in the playoffs when the pace slows down and teams get rough and play tackle basketball.
The other factor is I keep hearing about how important Brogdon was in the playoffs and I would argue the second best player wasn’t Brogdon but rather George Hill. He shot 42% from 3 in the playoffs and had double digits in 10 of the 15 games he played. He also played stellar defense and didn’t turn the ball over.
The biggest question I have is can Brogdon stay healthy? History is not on his side. He’s missed 40% of the games he was eligible to play. That’s a lot. For this move to work for Indiana he must stay on the court. I also don’t think he will have as many uncontested 3s because the Pacers have no one that can draw defenders in like Giannis. 34 is the best friend a shooter can ask for because he attracts so much attention and if you collapse on him someone on the arc will be open.