While the New York Knicks had a superior free agency last offseason after inking Jalen Brunson to a steal of a deal, their crosstown rival let a key player walk. On July 1, the Nuggets signed Bruce Brown to a two-year, $13.2 million contract. Similar to New York and Brunson, Denver got Brown at a cheap price compared to the value that he’s given to the Nuggets.
Brown averaged a career-high 11.5 points in the 2022-23 regular season while shooting 48.3% from the field and 35.8% from three. He’s been even more dominant off the bench in the playoffs for Denver, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to Brooklyn fans as he was the Nets’ best player in the 2022 postseason when the team was swept by the Celtics in the first round.
In the 16 playoff games (and counting!) that the Nuggets have played in, Brown’s averaging 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while shooting an absurd 53.3% from the floor. In Denver’s 104-93 Game 1 NBA Finals win over Miami on Thursday, Brown posted 10 points (4-of-7 from the field, 2-of-3 from three) and five rebounds in 21 minutes.
The 26-year-old has a $6.8 million player option for 2023-24 that he’s likely going to opt out of to become a free agent for the second straight offseason. As much as Denver would love to retain Brown, he could go elsewhere and get more money. It was just last summer when Brown wasn’t a hot commodity on the free agent market, but a lot has changed over the past season.
Knicks fans should enjoy seeing Bruce Brown excel with Nuggets after leaving Nets
Bruce Brown was the No. 42 overall pick in the 2018 draft by Detroit, where he spent his first two seasons in the league before being traded to Brooklyn as part of a three-team deal. He averaged a respectable 8.9 points per game with the Nets in two seasons and the 14 points that he averaged in last year’s postseason weren’t enough for Brooklyn to want to re-sign him. The Nets weren’t the only team that didn’t want him, though.
Brown was recently a guest on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, where he said that he heard that the Nets’ front office wanted him back. He wouldn’t offer much information other than that, but it’s been assumed that maybe it was Kevin Durant that wasn’t keen on Brooklyn re-signing Brown.
"Honestly...I don't think it was the Nets' front office organization who made that decision, because, what I've heard, they wanted me back."
— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) May 25, 2023
Wow, Bruce Brown with some very interesting comments on the end of his Nets' tenure pic.twitter.com/XV0QD91rYh
If that’s true, look at how it worked out for the Nets. KD was traded to the Suns earlier this season, and ironically enough, Brown and the Nuggets eliminated Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals in five games.
Brown’s already made his mark in Denver by being part of the first team in franchise history to reach the NBA Finals. Next on the list is winning a title and with the Nuggets up 1-0 in the series over the Heat, the team is off to a good start.
In retrospect, the Nets letting Bruce Brown go couldn’t have worked out better for him. He left a struggling franchise for a successful franchise where he gets to play alongside the best player in the world. Brooklyn’s loss has been Denver’s gain.
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