Bruce Brown has an NBA championship, nine years of professional experience and a résumé that includes playing all 82 games last season.
What he doesn’t have is a guaranteed job.
The 30-year-old guard is fighting for a roster spot with the New York Knicks, an unfamiliar position for someone who helped the Denver Nuggets win the 2023 NBA championship.
Brown believes the league’s collective bargaining agreement has made life increasingly difficult for players in his position.
Asked Thursday whether the NBA’s restrictive second-apron rules have created frustration among players, Brown didn’t hesitate.
“I’m sure there is [frustration],” Brown told reporters, according to SNY Knicks.
“The new CBA is good for certain players, right? Max guys, top free agents and maybe rookie extension guys,” Brown continued. “But other than that, like the middle guys, it kind of sucks for us.”
His frustration comes at a particularly uncertain moment in his career.
Bruce Brown Says NBA’s Middle Class Is Getting Squeezed
Brown isn’t questioning whether the NBA’s biggest stars deserve their contracts. His concern is what happens to established veterans who fall between maximum-salary players and those earning the minimum.
Under the current CBA, teams face increasingly severe restrictions as their payrolls approach or exceed the second apron.
Those penalties can limit trades, restrict roster-building flexibility and discourage teams from spending on experienced role players.
Brown pointed specifically to the shrinking market for midlevel contracts.
“As you see, there’s not that many people getting that full midlevel (exception) anymore — or even the tax midlevel (exception),” he said.
For the 2026-27 season, the NBA’s non-taxpayer midlevel exception is worth approximately $15 million, while the taxpayer version is worth roughly $6.1 million.
Those exceptions still exist, but teams must weigh their use against the financial restrictions that come with crossing the aprons.
Brown knows how dramatically the market can change.
After helping Denver win its first championship in 2023, he signed a two-year, $45 million contract with the Indiana Pacers.
Three years later, he’s trying to secure a guaranteed roster spot.
Knicks’ Second-Apron Restrictions Complicate Brown’s Future
Brown averaged 8.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 24 minutes per game with Denver last season.
He appeared in all 82 games, yet entered September without the guaranteed contract he expected.
“I played every single game last year,” Brown said. “I thought I played well enough to have a guaranteed spot on a team.”
Instead, he signed a non-guaranteed training camp deal with New York.
The Knicks have room under the second apron to add only one veteran on a minimum contract without making another move.
That has created a crowded competition involving Brown, James Wiseman, Drew Eubanks, Tony Bradley and Ochai Agbaji.
New York’s preference for additional frontcourt depth could further complicate Brown’s chances. A salary-clearing trade, potentially involving Pacome Dadiet, would provide more flexibility to keep multiple veterans.
For Brown, however, the challenge extends beyond the Knicks.
He sees a league in which reliable contributors can play meaningful minutes one season and find themselves fighting for employment the next.
“It’s tough, but that’s just the way it is right now,” Brown said. “So each time you’re out there, you’ve just got to play your best and hope for the best.”
For a player who once parlayed a championship run into a $45 million payday, that’s a sobering new reality.
NBA Champion Rips New CBA Amid Knicks Roster Battle