Bruce Brown Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

Lakers have shown interest in former playoff rival

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated 1/20/24

The Los Angeles Lakers might be swinging a move for a guy who helped end their season less than eight months ago.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said Friday on “NBA Countdown” to keep an eye on the Lakers as a potential trade suitor for former Denver Nuggets champion Bruce Brown. Wojnarowski passed along that the Lakers almost landed Brown for the midlevel exception this past summer and that they attempted to trade for him earlier this season, too.

woj just hinted at the lakers being extremely interested in bruce brown

he even went as far as to say they tried trading for him while he was a pacer

wow pic.twitter.com/FhhBLVkU07

— Coach Rome (@Rome_Beast) January 20, 2024

Brown, 27, was just traded by the Indiana Pacers to the Toronto Raptors as a part of the Pascal Siakam blockbuster. He is a phenomenal intangibles piece who defends, rebounds and scores from a number of different positions. He is not expected to be kept around by the young, rebuilding Raptors.

What also makes Brown an attractive option is that he has a $23 million team option for next season. Acquiring Brown might make things awkward for one Lakers player who Brown targeted when the Nuggets eliminated the Lakers in last year’s Western Conference Finals. But Brown does all the little things that a top-heavy team like the Lakers needs and would be markedly cheaper than this other purple-and-gold trade target.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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