2024 Free Agents - Bruce Brown

Summary
After operating as an on-ball guard during the majority of his time with Detroit in the early years of his career, the Nets utilized Brown differently during his time in Brooklyn, using him as a small-ball big. Brown had success operating as the roll-man in pick-and-roll. His playmaking ability allows him to attack 4-on-3 situations out of the pick-and-roll, and he has nice touch on floaters. He finishes strong at the rim through contact, and has some craftiness inside as well.

In Brooklyn, Brown had most of his success as the screener for James Harden, who is one of the better pocket passers in the league, but later started to develop some of that similar chemistry screening for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. In '20-'21, the Nets scored a solid 1.14 points per possession with Brown as the roll man, but that number dropped to 0.86 points per possession in '21-'22.

In Denver, Brown didn't set as many screens, but was still very successful playing off of Nikola Jokic as a cutter or sometimes as the ball-handler in pick-and-rolls. He shot a career-high 73% at the rim in '22-'23, and was even better during the playoffs at 77%. He is a very good offensive rebounder for his position, finishing in the 84th percentile or better each of his first four seasons in the league, per Cleaning the Glass, and still above-average in the 64th percentile in '22-'23.

After hitting 41% from three on low volume in '21-'22, he hit an okay 36% in '22-'23, showing improvement compared to the 31% he hit in his first three seasons. Teams are becoming less willing to leave him open from outside, so he is becoming more of a threat off the ball. He only shot 33% from three in the playoffs, but was willing to take and make enough open threes to be a threat. He has been really good from the right corner but has struggled from the left corner.

Defensively, Brown is undersized but can still defend multiple positions due to his strength, length, and quickness. He can be disruptive, posting solid steal and block rates. Brown had some big playoff moments for the Nuggets in 2023 on their road to the title, even closing some games. He helped the Pacers offense thrive in their uptempo style, although he individually struggled, hitting just 33% from 3 and posting a 57% true shooting before being traded to Toronto.

Cap Considerations
Brown has a $22.5 million team option for '24-'25, and if the Raptors declines that option he will be an unrestricted free agent with a $27 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. Using his Non-Bird Rights, the Raptors could offer him a starting salary of $27 million. They could theoretically offer him more than $27 million using cap space. However, that shouldn't be an issue considering if they want to retain him and he plays well enough to warrant that kind of money, they can just exercise the option.

If Brown hits free agency and demands a starting salary of more than the full $12.9 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, only teams with cap space will be able to sign him, but it's possible that he could be had for the full MLE or slightly less.