The Toronto Raptors have finally decided to hit the reset button. After a couple of seasons of treading water and not picking a true direction following the 2019 championship, the Raptors traded away the last members of that title team in OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam. Taking their place is RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and Kira Lewis Jr. Bruce Brown made his Raptors debut following the trade on Thursday against the Chicago Bulls and he did so on an impressive, quick turnaround as per Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports.
Bruce Brown joined the Raptors less than two days after the trade. As per Lewenberg, he didn’t have any opportunity to practice with his new teammates yet. Despite that, he had a rather impressive debut even as the Raptors lost to the Bulls, 116-110. Brown finished with 15 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes. He played the entire fourth quarter and scored eight of this 15 points during that period.
A key member of the Denver Nuggets 2023 championship team, Brown was the Pacers top free agent signing. Brown started in all 33 games he had played in for the Pacers this season. He had been averaging a career-high 12.1 points per game, 4.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 47.5 percent shooting from the field, 32.7 percent shooting from the three point line and 81.7 percent shooting from the free throw line.
With the Raptors, Brown’s role will likely shift to being more of a veteran leader while still being a driving force on the court.
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