One Nuggets free agency signing gets an “A” grade from Sports Illustrated
Jul 8, 2022, 12:37 PM
The Denver Nuggets offseason so far has been good, but perhaps not great.
The team made a big trade, sending Monte Morris and Will Barton to Washington for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith. That should upgrade their defense, but it wasn’t necessarily the sexiest move.
The Nuggets then added DeAndre Jordan in the first moments of free agency, a curious move to say the least. They also recently inked Vlatko Cancar to a three-year deal, ensuring there is plenty of depth on the end of the bench.
But the best move made so far by new GM Calvin Booth might be signing Bruce Brown away from the Brooklyn Nets. The deal came in at just two-years and $13 million. The second year of the contract is a player option, so Brown is betting on himself, and that he can get a monster payday next summer.
Brown is a great defender who shot 40 percent from three-point range last season in Brooklyn. It was surprising to see the Nuggets lure Brown on such a team friendly deal, and pundits around the league are noticing.
Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated handed out grades for “under-the-radar” signings and Brown got the the highest marks of any new contract in the NBA. Out of the five grades that Nadkarni dished out, Brown and the Nuggets were the only ones to earn an “A” mark. Here’s part of what he wrote:
Brown will be a welcome defensive presence on a team whose stars all lean mostly offense. Brown is small but still adept at guarding bigger wings. Put him on the court with Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Denver actually has some grit on the perimeter.
Offensively, it’s hard to imagine a better team for Brown to play for. He shot 40.4% on (mostly wide-open) threes last year, and he should receive similar looks playing off Murray, MPJ and Nikola Jokić. Even when teams don’t respect Brown’s outside shot, the Nuggets will be well-equipped to overcome it because of the shooting they have at every other position. In some ways, Jokić will make Brown’s life even easier than KD and Kyrie because he’ll no longer have to play with a non-spacer at center. This is a great fit for both sides. Expect Brown to be a major part of Denver’s playoff rotation.
That’s high praise and Nadkarni makes a number of excellent points. The two biggest areas to improve on this offseason were perimeter defense and better outside shooting. Brown fills both those needs and should help right away. He will absolutely be a key part of the Nuggets if they make a deep playoff run.
We’ll see what else Booth has up his sleeve, but for now, it’s been a solid offseason. Even if the names he added don’t pop off the page to the average NBA fan.
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