Bruce Brown was acquired by the Toronto Raptors in the Pascal Siakam trade that sent the forward to the Indiana Pacers.
Brown notably won a championship with the Denver Nuggets last season, which earned him a payday in free agency from the Pacers. He is a role player that every contending team could use on the quest for a ring.
For a Raptors team that is in a rebuild Brown does not necessarily fit the timeline in Toronto. As Masai Ujiri acquired assets in the Siakam and O.G. Anunoby trade, there is an opportunity to get more with Brown.
As the trade deadline approaches on Feb. 8, contending teams will certainly check in on the availability of Brown. One of those teams is the Los Angeles Lakers according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, via The Trade Deadline:
“There’s been no shortage of teams reaching out to Toronto to try to get a Bruce Brown, he fits everywhere and the Lakers are among them….they (Raptors) are in a rebuild and they’re going to go very young in Toronto. He (Masai) does see the value in a 27-year-old tough veteran around his young players but there is a big market for Bruce Brown…continue to watch the Lakers with Bruce Brown to see if there’s a pathway.”
L.A. has experienced a fair share of struggle as they sit 21-22 with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers are trying to cash in on a championship with those two stars and Brown would certainly help.
For Toronto, getting another first-round draft pick is feasible as Brown has worked his way up to the upper echelon of role players.
In his Raptors debut, Brown came from off the bench and had 15 points, 7 rebounds on 7-10 shooting in 25 minutes of action.
Noise will only grow louder as the deadline approaches and time will tell if Toronto is serious about moving Brown.
Bruce Brown pays Jontay Porter $10k for No. 11 jersey number
The No. 11 has been the go-to for Brown through his stops with the Nuggets and Pacers. However, Jontay Porter occupied No. 11 when Brown was traded to the Raptors.
Brown had to pay up if he wanted to re-claim his jersey number and that resulted in Porter getting $10k for No. 11.
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