Getty Bruce Brown #11 of the Toronto Raptors reacts during the second half against the New York Knicks.
With the Los Angeles Lakers zeroing in on Dejounte Murray and Bruce Brown as their top 2 trade deadline targets, ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks concocted a 3-team trade proposal that will land them Brown.
Marks’ trade proposal:
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Bruce Brown
Toronto Raptors receive: Spencer Dinwiddie, Lakers’ 2025 & 2030 second-round pick
Brooklyn Nets receive: D’Angelo Russell, Taurean Prince, 2025 second-round pick (via Clippers)
In this trade scenario, the Lakers keep their powder dry for a potential star trade in the offseason. In the interim, they would have a new starting 5 of Brown, Austin Reaves, Cam Reddish, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Max Christie would get a regular rotation spot in the second unit with Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood.
Brown’s potential addition to the Lakers’ starting lineup will give them versatility on both offense and defense. Brown’s defensive toughness would cover Reaves’ deficiency on that end, and will have the nightly tough assignment of defending opposing best perimeter players.
A good cutter, Brown gives the Lakers another player who can complement the ball-dominant James and Davis.
Russell and Prince would return to the Nets, where they had a shared success helping the Nets reach the playoffs before the ill-fated Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving era.
The Raptors would get 2 second-round picks for Brown and a veteran guard in Dinwiddie, who will come off their books after this season.
Lakers’ 3rd Shot at Bruce Brown
This will be the Lakers’ third attempt at acquiring Brown, whom they coveted in the free agency. They also tried to get him from the Indiana Pacers before he became the headliner in the Pascal Siakam trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“You go back to the summer, and they had some confidence that they might be able to sign Bruce Brown in free agency until Indiana stepped up and offered the two-year, $45 million [deal],” Wojnarowski said on NBA Today on January 22. “They didn’t get him. He goes to Indiana. The Lakers tried to see if they could trade for Bruce Brown from the Pacers, [they] didn’t get him. He goes to Toronto as part of the Pascal Siakam deal and they’re going to continue to be on the phone with Toronto between now and the trade deadline, trying to see if there’s a way that they can get Bruce Brown.”
“Listen, he was part of the group that eliminated the Lakers in the playoffs last year. You’ve seen his impact on winning teams in the playoffs.”
Raptors Leveraging Bruce Brown’s High Demand
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Raptors have set a high price for the 6-foot-4 Brown in their bid to add more draft capital to the original Pascal Siakam trade.
“The Raptors’ asking price for teams interested in acquiring Bruce Brown has been described as a future first-round pick and a quality player … at a minimum.
Toronto knows that a variety of contending teams are interested in Brown, noting his contributions to Denver’s title run last season, making the Raptors hopeful they can spark some robust bidding for a player with both championship pedigree and a team-friendly contract,” Stein wrote in his January 21 substack newsletter.