JULY 7: The deal is now official, the Nuggets announced in a press release.
JULY 1: The Nuggets have reached an agreement to sign free agent wing Bruce Brown to a two-year, $13MM+ contract, according to Malika Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal will include a second-year player option, Andrews adds (via Twitter).
Denver appears likely to use the taxpayer portion of its mid-level exception to complete the signing — a two-year deal worth the full taxpayer MLE would come in at around $13.3MM.
Brown became eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer after accepting his $4.7MM qualifying offer from Brooklyn a year ago. He spent his first two NBA seasons in Detroit from 2018-20 and has been a Net for the last two years.
Brown does a little bit of everything on the court, playing and guarding multiple positions while providing some scoring (9.0 PPG), play-making (2.1 APG), rebounding (4.8 RPG), and even three-point shooting (40.4%) in 2021/22.
The 25-year-old is the type of player who doesn’t need the ball on offense and can switch onto virtually anyone defensively, making him an ideal fit for a Nuggets team that has been looking to upgrade its defense around stars Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr.
According to Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link), the Nuggets had Brown high on their list of targets and love his defensive versatility. As Singer notes (via Twitter), it looks like Brown will essentially take Austin Rivers‘ place on the roster, since Denver now has a projected 14 players under contract for 2022/23, plus restricted free agent Vlatko Cancar.
Nice. A versatile player with developing skills and a great attitude. Will allow Malone to throw some different lineups out there.
Really nice signing for them, needing defense at the guard spot. They have significantly changed their roster…also, are Brown and Davon Reed former teammates at the U? I feel like they are, but they could have been off by a year or 2
Brooklyn sat this guy over and over again in super frustrating ways until eventually letting him play each of these last 2 seasons. 1 of many more than questionable rotation decisions
That’s a steal for Bruce considering some of the other contracts being thrown around. Not even as much as Payton
Surprised this hasn’t gotten more attention. Good value to address an important need. If healthy, Nuggets are looking dangerous next season.