New wing Bruce Brown made his Toronto Raptors debut on Thursday night, but his run there may be just about up. And yes, it’s barely begun.
Per Marc Stein of The Stein Line, the Raptors are expected to move Brown — acquired in the Pascal Siakam trade with the Indiana Pacers — before the Feb. 8 deadline to make a deal.
“There is a strong belief already bubbling leaguewide that the Raptors will move newly acquired Bruce Brown before the buzzer sounds,” Stein wrote. “Toronto can’t aggregate Brown’s contract with any other players in a follow-up trade, but Brown’s contract (which pays out $22 million this season before a $23 million team option next season) alone is extremely trade-friendly.”
Brown signed a two-year, $45 million contract with the Pacers over the summer, fresh off winning a title with the Denver Nuggets.
One team to keep an eye on when it comes to Brown is the New York Knicks, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
Brown, 27, scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his Raptors debut against the Chicago Bulls, shooting 7-of-10 from the field. Fairly impressive, given he was with the Pacers two days ago.
In 33 games with Indiana, he averaged 12.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists, shooting 48 percent overall and 33 percent on 3-pointers.
Overall, he carries NBA career averages of 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists with the Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, Nuggets, Pacers and Raptors.
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