The Golden State Warriors, despite dropping their last game to the San Antonio Spurs, have cruised to a 12-4 record and are atop the Western Conference. They have already beaten both the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics, who made the NBA Finals last year, and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are expected to represent the West this year in the Finals.
It's mostly been smooth sailing for the Warriors, but they have faced their fair share of hardships. After signing guard De'Anthony Melton to a one-year, $12.8 million deal to help replace Klay Thompson, he has been ruled out for the season with an ACL injury. Since the news broke, the Warriors have been linked to plenty of trade targets.
In a recent list of candidates to chase, the Warriors were linked to Toronto Raptors' guard Bruce Brown.
Brown won a title in 2023 with the Denver Nuggets before signing with the Indiana Pacers. He was then flipped north to Canada in the Pascal Siakam deal and is yet to make his season debut with a knee injury, which could lower his value.
"Brown is the type of player who could make a ton of sense as a trade deadline target for the Warriors," wrote FanSided's Michael Saenz. "He's a proven veteran with a championship pedigree who knows how to play any specific role effectively."
Brown, like Melton, will be a free agent this summer, so a deal for him would likely be a rental. During the Nuggets' title run, he averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. He shot 35.8 percent from 3-point range, but his shooting efficiency has taken a dip recently.
Brown would upgrade the Warriors' defense and would provide a do-all ability that would usually make him a favorite in Steve Kerr's rotations, but he is owed $23 million this year, so balancing the books would be rather tricky.
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