Bruce Brown recently declined his player option worth $7 million. This is in hopes that he will be able to get a deal worth much more during this year’s NBA free agency. Given how effective he was with the Denver Nuggets and being considered an unsung hero of the NBA Finals, he will most likely get quite a few offers. Denver has expressed how much they want Brown back to defend their title, but as we have seen many times in this league, money talks. One team that has already expressed interest in his services is none other than the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas Mavericks Interested in Bruce Brown
Dallas Must Have a Successful Free Agency
The Mavericks are in a tricky situation. They are desperate to keep Luka Doncic happy and traded away a ton of depth this past season to acquire Kyrie Irving to pair with their superstar. However, the roster still needs a ton of work, especially after the team fell all the way out of playoff contention in the second half of the regular season. They need to address their frontcourt and also regain some defensive versatility. The defensive aspect is something the Mavericks already have an idea for in terms of two-way players.
Dallas reportedly did away with Davis Bertans’ contract to “gain use of the full non-taxpayers’ $12.4 midlevel exception in free agency to pursue top wings in free agency (starting with Denver’s Bruce Brown),” per Marc Stein. Brown would be an ideal fit for the Mavericks given their need for versatile players to play multiple positions and defend at a high level. However, $12 million may still be a little low to lure Brown to the state of Texas. Regardless, it makes sense why the Mavericks have him high on their priority list this offseason.
Bruce Brown’s Numbers
Bruce Brown had a career year this past season. Not only was he one of the most important pieces to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets, he also showed why head coach, Michael Malone, pursued him so aggressively last offseason. During the regular season, he tallied a career-high 11.5 points per game to go along with 4.1 total rebounds. On top of this, the former Brooklyn Net and Detroit Piston also averaged a defensive win-share total of +2.6 and a player efficiency rating of 13.3.
During the playoffs, Brown elevated his game coming away with numbers of 12.0 points, four total rebounds, 1.1 steals per game, and a field goal percentage of 51.1 percent. When one takes a look at these numbers and analyzes his impact for the NBA champions, it is easy to see why the Dallas Mavericks are interested in Bruce Brown.
