Bruce Brown: ‘I want to stay’ with Nuggets
After the Nuggets’ championship victory on Monday, many reporters, analysts, and even Denver Nuggets’ players speculated that Bruce Brown would be cashing in on a massive payday this Summer in free agency. However, Brown told The Denver Post’s Mike Singer that he won’t necessarily leave Denver for just a big contract.
“I want to stay,” Brown said. “… It’s a perfect fit. And money is not everything. The money will come. So, I’m not worried about that right now.
Brown signed a two-year contract with Denver last season and has a $6.8 million player option for the upcoming 2023-24 season. If he declines his option, Denver would only hold his non-bird rights and would only be able to offer him a salary beginning at $7.8 million — a 20% raise off his 2022-23 $6.5 million salary.
The Nuggets could use their mid-level exception to offer up to $12.2 million, but they’re unlikely to have the full mid-level exception available because their salary is projected to be over the luxury tax line. ESPN’s Bobby Marks expects other teams to offer at least that mark of $12.2M and possibly much more.
“Bruce has been huge for us all playoffs,” Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. said after the Nuggets’ Game 5 Finals clinching victory. “We’re excited for him because he’s going to get paid. He’s going to get paid… We just kept telling him to be aggressive, even though his first half didn’t go amazing making shots-wise. He hit that big bucket down the stretch, made those free throws. He was amazing for us all playoffs. It wasn’t just tonight.”
Porter Jr. isn’t kidding. This was the best stretch of Brown’s career, although he’s always been a highly versatile role player.
In 80 regular season games for Denver this season, Brown averaged a career-high 11.5 points per game on 48.3/35.8/75.8 shooting splits. Brown also averaged 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. In the championship run, Brown upped his scoring to 12 points on 51.1/31.6/85.7 shooting.
In the waning minutes of Game 5, Brown grabbed a crucial offensive rebound and got the second chance points to help extend the Nuggets’ lead and clinch their first-ever NBA Title.
Although not a traditional table-setter, Brown provided bench minutes as the backup point guard in Denver’s rotation. While he can play the point guard spot, he can also provide minutes as a wing. He’s a complete role player that can do a little bit of everything. He’s great attacking downhill in the half-court and in transition and an elite point-of-attack perimeter defender who always gives full effort. His versatility is what makes Brown such a valuable commodity in today’s NBA.
One option Brown could explore is to decline his player option in favor of signing another one-plus-one deal. He could sign for $7.8 million next season, then opt out again in 2024 to explore signing a more lucrative, long-term deal with Denver. Bobby Portis did exactly that in Milwaukee after winning a championship in 2021.
If Brown opts out, he’s set to receive the biggest pay-day of his career. He played the best basketball of his career this season and his value has never been higher. But directly after the championship win, Brown sounded adamant that he wanted to stay with the Nuggets.
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