The decision to bypass on Malcolm Brogdon in free agency this summer has already been justified for the Golden State Warriors, with the 32-year-old announcing his shock retirement from the NBA on the eve of the regular season.
The Warriors made what appeared at the time like a controversial free agency decision in the offseason, prioritizing the likes of Seth Curry and Gary Payton II over Brogdon despite their lack of point guard options beyond Stephen Curry.
Brogdon was strongly linked to the Warriors for some weeks, yet the interest on the franchise's side obviously wasn't big enough given the 32-year-old accepted just a training camp deal with the New York Knicks.
Malcolm Brogdon has stunningly retired from the NBA after nine years
Perhaps Golden State were aware of just how problematic Brogdon's injury issues were, having been limited to just 63 games over the past two seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Wizards.
It's been only 2.5 years since Brogdon won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year with the Boston Celtics in 2022-23, with the former Rookie of the Year averaging 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 48.4% from the floor and an incredibly efficient 44.4% from 3-point range.
Brogdon finishes a nine-year career averaging 15.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists on impressive 46/39/87 shooting splits, having played with the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Celtics, Trail Blazers and Wizards.
There was strong belief that Brogdon would have earned a place on New York's main roster by opening night, though his preseason form might have suggested that the end was near. He averaged just 4.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 13 minutes per game over four appearances, shooting 29.4% from the floor and 25% from 3-point range.
With Jonathan Kuminga eventually re-signing and the acquisitions of Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton seen as their big free agency moves, the Warriors rounded out their roster by bringing back Payton, signing Curry and giving rookie guard Will Richard a four-year standard deal rather than a two-way contract.
The Richard decision already looks like the correct one given his strong impression during preseason, while Curry is yet to debut as he ramps up his training workload. The veteran sharsphooter is expected to be waived at the end of preseason, then brought back once Golden State are financially eligible to do so next month.
As sad as it is that a quality player like Brogdon has had his career cut so short by unfortunate injury issues, it does prove that the Warriors were right to steer clear of him when the opportunity arose.