Bruce Brown Was Going To Sign With This Western Conference Team In 2023

In 2023, Bruce Brown became the darling of the NBA community when he helped the Denver Nuggets capture the NBA title with his energy and defensive prowess. Apparently, Brown came close to the bright lights of Hollywood when a Western Conference team came knocking on his door.

Appearing on the “DNVR Nuggets Podcast” this week, Brown made a revelation that caused the hosts to lose their minds. “I was going to the Lakers after the championship,” he said. “They wanted me to be the starting point guard.”

“Ooooohhhh. Bruce!” the hosts exclaimed.

Among other reasons, the panel of the Nuggets-centered podcast was surprised that Brown had even considered jumping ship to the team that faced Denver in the 2023 Western Conference Finals. After participating in the play-in tournament, the seventh-seeded Lakers eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors to set up a conference final matchup with the Nuggets.

The Lakers, however, ended up getting swept by Denver, who then dispatched the Miami Heat in five games en route to claiming the title. Though the purple and gold squad overachieved in that postseason, they were clearly determined to go all the way to the Finals the next year. It made sense, then, for the Lakers front office to pursue a key piece of the newly crowned champions.

Brown shared that the Lakers had offered him a three-year, $50 million deal, which caught his fancy. Just as he was starting to consider purchasing a property for his intended move to Los Angeles, a better deal came along. “My agent’s calling again. ‘Hold on, we got a call from Indy.’ He said it might be a crazy deal,” Brown recalled.

The offer from the Indiana Pacers ended up being $40 million for two years, which meant that Brown would have had more flexibility to make more money over a short span, compared to the potential Lakers deal. Ultimately, Brown decided to leave the Mile High to sign with Indiana.

After getting traded to the Toronto Raptors and the New Orleans Pelicans over the past two seasons, Brown is back in a familiar place: the highly competitive environment of a Denver squad that is threatening to make serious noise in the playoffs. It’s a remarkable round trip, but NBA fans will continue to wonder what would have been if Brown had decided to take the Lakers’ offer.