The Lakers may have their sights set on making a mini-splash early in NBA free agency. According to a recent report from Mike Singer of The Denver Post, Los Angeles has “significant interest” in signing a former fan-favorite of the defending NBA champions Nuggets, guard Bruce Brown.
One team with significant interest in signing Bruce Brown away from Denver is the Los Angeles Lakers, multiple sources told @denverpost.
— Mike Singer (@msinger) June 28, 2023
The Lakers could offer him the full MLE ($12.3M annually). Nuggets can only offer up to $7.8M this year.
As Singer explains, if money is a factor, the Lakers have an edge on Denver heading into free agency. Brown did say after the Nuggets’ NBA Finals victory that money “is not everything” and that he’s “not worried about that right now.”
Brown averaged a regular-season best 11.5 points per game with 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 2022–23. He averaged the most minutes per game of his carer at 28.5 and shot 48.3% from the field. Brown was even better offensively during the playoffs, shooting 51.1% from the field and averaging 12 points per game.