The Brooklyn Nets are going to look quite different next year. Two major reasons for this are the impending departures of Kevin Durant, who requested a trade, and Kyrie Irving, who reportedly is not long for the team either in light of Durant’s decision. On Friday morning, we learned of another stalwart from the last few seasons who is likewise on his way out of town.
According to Malika Andrews of ESPN, Bruce Brown is switching conferences. Brown is headed to Denver, where he will join the Nuggets on a 2-year deal that will pay him in excess of $13 million.
Bruce Brown has agreed to a 2-year, $13M+ deal with the Denver Nuggets, sources tell ESPN.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) July 1, 2022
A former second round draft pick for the Detroit Pistons, Brown should bring some defensive tenacity on the perimeter for a Nuggets team that is gearing up to make a run for a championship next year due to the impending returns from injury of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. While it is unclear how the team’s starting lineup will shake out, Brown is a snug fit alongside those two and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, and if he continues to shoot the ball as well as he did last season, putting him on the floor with Aaron Gordon should not be an issue.
Brown has turned into a reliable two-way option for the Nets over the course of his career, and the 2021-22 campaign was the best of his career up to this point. Brown appeared in 72 games and had a role in the starting lineup in 45 of them, and averaged nine points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks in 24.6 minutes per game. He shot 50.6 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from three.