Last season with the team dealing with injuries and in need of some depth, the Los Angeles Lakers signed guard Sterling Brown, a former second-round pick in 2017, to a 10-day contract in January. He would appear in four games with the Lakers, but the team ultimately chose to part ways once that deal was done.
Following the expiration of that deal, Brown would return to the NBA G League where he was an important player for Raptors 905. With the offseason winding down, Brown has been unable to find himself on an NBA roster as training camp nears so the wing has now chosen to go the international route.
Alba Berlin of the Bundesliga Basketball League in Germany announced that they have agreed to a deal with the former Lakers guard. Alba sporting director Himar Ojeda spoke on Brown, noting he has long been a fan and believes he will help their team:
“I’ve liked Sterling since I saw him play live for the first time in 2017. So I’m all the happier to finally have him on our team. With his skills he will help us in many ways, although it will take him some time to get used to European basketball. We want to make this phase as easy as possible for him and help him to make the best use of his all-round abilities.”
Brown has always had promising tools that could make him an ideal 3-and-D player and perhaps a stint in Europe will help his overall growth as a basketball player. Alba Berlin is one of the best teams in Germany, winning the Bundesliga Championship in 2020 and 2022 while making the Finals in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
In particular, Brown is known for his shooting and is a career 36.3% 3-point shooter in the NBA. While his stint with the Lakers didn’t go the way he hoped, he would still have a solid season in the G League, averaging 15.7 points and 7.2 rebounds while knocking down 45% of his 3-pointers for Raptors 905.
Austin Reaves says ‘main goal’ for Lakers is to win a championship
While Brown continues his career overseas, the current Lakers are looking to build on their run to the Western Conference Finals last year and Austin Reaves was a huge part of that. And he knows that there is only one goal for this team heading into this season.
Reaves was happy with the moves the franchise made in the offseason and feels the Lakers brought in exactly what they needed before adding that the main goal for himself and everyone on this team is to bring home the championship.
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