
There was a report made by Jake Fischer in a piece he wrote for The Stein Line earlier this week which stated that the Toronto Raptors are “very motivated” to trade Bruce Brown Jr. before the NBA trade deadline.
“The Raptors are very motivated to move Brown and his $23 million salary, sources said, in hopes of growing the return from trading Pascal Siakam to Indiana on Jan. 17, 2024. Brown arrived in Toronto as the largest salary component from that deal, alongside three future first-round picks, to land Siakam with the Pacers.” Fischer wrote.
This has naturally caused some discussion in the NBA world as to whether the Los Angeles Lakers should pursue a deal for a player they have been interested in acquiring in the past.
Should Los Angeles Lakers Pursue Bruce Brown?

As mentioned in Fischer’s article, Brown was the big salary that made the Siakam trade possible for the Indiana Pacers.
Brown was traded by the Pacers just a few months after signing for them during the 2023 free-agency period. When his two-year 45 million dollar contract was announced that offseason, the high numbers raised some eyebrows.
When you looked at it a bit more closely, you could see what the Pacers were thinking. They were signing a veteran versatile role player to a high contract, but they are a young team that had a lot of cap space at the time.
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This also came off the back of Brown’s most impactful period of his career. Helping the Denver Nuggets win the NBA title. His versatility on both offense and defense, along with his athleticism made him a perfect fit as a role player with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Having him replicate that kind of performance is what whoever ends up trading for him, if he is moved, would be hoping for.
The nine-year NBA veteran missed the first 31 games of this season due to a right knee injury. Brown is averaging eight points and 3.6 rebounds in his 10 games played thus far.
Whether this is someone the Lakers should really be pushing to trade for is debatable. As a player, Brown is a good fit. Especially if the Lakers can get the version of the player that helped the Nuggets win a championship.
Currently, the Los Angeles Lakers are 2nd in odds to land Brown at +325.
The biggest question around the hypothetical trade is of course what the Lakers would have to give up. Due to Brown’s high salary, the Los Angeles Lakers would likely have to trade some sort of a variation of players that could have names such as Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and Jarred Vanderbilt.
I don’t believe that potentially giving up multiple players from that list and additional draft picks is worth it on a guy like Brown.