Pacers Surprisingly Waive Center Amid Frontcourt Issues

With Brown now out of the team, the roster stands at 17 players. Brown signed a one-year deal in November, but the Pacers will move in a different direction.

Brown made nine appearances, averaging 3.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.1 minutes. Brown signed with the team last month after it had two of its top three centers, James Wiseman and Isiaah Jackson, went down with season-ending Achilles tears.

Although the Pacers were depleted in the frontcourt, Brown still saw little playing time. After playing in each of his first eight games with Indiana, the 25-year-old was on the court for just 25 seconds last Wednesday, then was a DNP-CD on Friday and Sunday.

The Pacers don't have much room below the luxury tax line. If Brown is not going to play, then there is little reason to keep him on the rise, which ended up being the case.

The moment that he clears waivers, Indiana will be on the hook for only a small prorated portion of his non-guaranteed minimum salary contract. That cap charge will be $306,660 if he’s officially released today.

Since making his NBA debut in 2019, the young center has played 159 regular-season games for seven different teams.

Brown initially joined the Houston Rockets and played in one game for the team in the 2019 NBA Summer League. Prior to the start of the season, Brown signed a training camp contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.

After a full season with the Trail Blazers, he signed a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder and played for their G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue. During his time there, Brown was named to the All-NBA G League First Team and the All-NBA G League All-Defensive Team.

After one season, Brown bounced to the Dallas Mavericks and has struggled to find a place to call home. After his stint in Dallas, he's gone to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets, back to the Trail Blazers in 2023, and was last with the Westchester Knicks at the start of this season.

Prior to his start in the NBA, Brown spent one season at UCLA and finished the season averaging 9.7 points and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds.

Brown will now look for a new team as we approach the new year.

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