The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly “in the mix” for Bruce Brown, a 3-and-D wing who spent last season with the Denver Nuggets, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer. He is known as an effective and versatile defender who can guard players at a minimum of three positions, and he’s also a reliable 3-point shooter and a capable secondary ball-handler.
Brown is a player the Lakers have had interest in multiple times in the past. They most notably pursued him in the summer of 2023 just after he won the NBA championship with Denver. Instead, he signed with the Indiana Pacers, and after bouncing around a bit, he returned to Denver last summer.
Advertisement
Several months ago, Brown revealed that he was close to signing with the Lakers in 2023.
“I was going to the Lakers,” Brown said. “Free agency started. They called me … and they wanted me to be the starting point guard. So I’m like, I got LeBron [James], I got AD (Anthony Davis), I got guys where they went to the Western Conference Finals. I want to win again. I can be the starting point guard for this, and all I’m doing is giving them the ball and getting the hell out of the way.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to do it.’ I was going there on a three-year deal.”
The Lakers were coming off an unexpected trip to the Western Conference finals, where they were swept by the eventual champion Nuggets. They reportedly offered Brown $50 million over three years to suit up for them.
Right now, Los Angeles needs a starting-level two-way forward. It missed out on Jonathan Kuminga, whom it had pursued for most of this summer and who is instead heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
At 6-foot-4, Brown wouldn’t be the best choice to start at one of the team’s forward positions. But he did average 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 24.4 minutes a game while shooting 47.5% from the field and 38.5% from 3-point range last season.
Advertisement
He was originally a second-round draft pick by the Detroit Pistons back in 2018 out of the University of Miami.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Bruce Brown said he was going to sign with Lakers in 2023
