JULY 6: Brown has officially signed with the Pacers, the team announced today (via Twitter).
JUNE 30: Fresh off a championship run with the Nuggets, Bruce Brown is leaving Denver for Indiana, per Alex Golden of Setting The Pace (Twitter link).
Brown is getting a significant pay raise from the Pacers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). He’ll sign a two-year contract worth $45MM, agents Ty Sullivan and Steven Heumann tell ESPN’s duo.
According to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link), Brown’s new deal will include a second-year team option, so it sounds like only the first year will be guaranteed. Still, it’s a huge pay bump for Brown, who had only earned a total of $15MM across his first five NBA seasons.
Having signed with the Nuggets last summer following a two-year stint in Brooklyn, Brown averaged a career-best 11.5 points per night on .483/.358/.758 shooting in 80 games (28.5 MPG) this past season.
The 26-year-old also contributed 4.1 RPG and 3.4 APG while handling a variety of defensive assignments. In the postseason, he played the most minutes of any Denver reserve, bumping his scoring average to 12.0 PPG while shooting 51.1% from the floor.
Because Brown signed with the Nuggets just one year ago, the team only held his Non-Bird rights, which limited their maximum offer to about $7.8MM, a 20% raise on his previous $6.5MM salary. The club reportedly made that offer, but it didn’t come close to the deal the Pacers put on the table.
Brown was the No. 14 free agent on our top-50 list. His deal will come out of Indiana’s cap room. The team still projects to have nearly $15MM in space after accounting for Brown’s contract, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.
Geez – bank for Brown.
No run for finals next year, but that’s a very nice pay raise.
Got ring…Got paid
Win/win
Nice
Bruce Brown getting 2 years $45 million is a major bag I mean crazy!!!! He definitely caught the market the right way!!! He should be the starter for the Indiana Pacers in the backcourt with Tyrese Haliburton.
I think they go with Mathurin. Brown is a plug and play guy that play wherever needed.
$45 million, scary
Lakers, where are you?
MIC
Most improve contract
From 6 to 22.5
Lakers couldn’t even come close to that, Silly. Dude won a ring and got his money. Good for him. It was never coming from the Lakers.
Been productive for 3 years on a bargain. Glad to see BB get paid
As a Pacers fan I’m happy with this. Fits the timeline for what they are trying to do and brings much needed defense. Onto Obi Toppin.
Obi and Fournier for buddy Hield
Says Knicks don’t want salary back. Draft compensation.
Knicks are in a win now situation. They have a ton of picks already. Do you think they want an all-star player right now? yes they do!
He’s only decent as a defender. Don’t expect a lock down guy. And he tends to lose focus. Good shooter though, and if he’s set up can drive downhill pretty well. Doesn’t create on his own and is a poor passer. Jokic (and to some extent Murray) made him look REALLY good in the playoffs. Much better than he really is.
Denver should sign a player for good money. Then trade them Zeke, Cancar, Draft rights to every player, Tyson. Picket, SF in draft and future picks for Brown back jk.
I wonder how much lower the AAV was for a 4 year offer
Took less last year, won, and got paid for it. Great job. Always a fan, from the U. Put him around Indiana’s shooters, even though they lost Duarte, and that’s a good fit, although they have a lot of guards, and I’m not sure you would do Nembhard and Brown in the same lineups
Good for him, sad for the Nuggets.
Zero chance he lives up to that contract. Luckily it will on be for 2 years.
Team option on year 2
Big OVERPAY! Guess money means less to an NBA owner than your typical gambler in Las Vegas
Holy overpay.
Overpay but it’s only 2 years and the Pacers aren’t going anywhere.
Just like the Knicks and Cavs.
Team option so it is one year if he sucks next year
But the Lakers were so confident that they would get him lol.
Haliburton ain’t Jokic but those paychecks are gonna be NICE.