The Denver Nuggets had a number of key pieces that led to them bringing the organization their first NBA Championship. Veteran guard Bruce Brown played a big role off the bench, and was rewarded in a huge way by another team on the first day of NBA Free Agency Friday.
Brown thrived in his first season in Denver, recording 12 points per game along with 4 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 20 postseason games for the Nuggets last year.
These kinds of numbers were obviously impactful and helped the Nuggets in the postseason, but they don’t exactly point to Brown becoming a future star in the league. However, the Indiana Pacers went ahead and paid him like a star once NBA Free Agency kicked off.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Pacers have agreed to terms on a two-year $45 million contract that will bring Bruce Brown to Indiana.
It is certainly a pretty penny for the Pacers to spend, and many fans clearly think that they overpaid for the former Nuggets role player.
While it does seem like a questionable move by the Pacers on paper, ESPN’s Zach Lowe did add that the second year of the contract does contain a team option, meaning they can get out of the deal after only one year.
Brown clearly showed this postseason that he can be a valuable piece to a winning team. That being said, the Pacers’ environment will likely be far different for him than he has been used to in Denver without the likes of Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray taking pressure off him offensively.