Toronto is expected to be busy ahead of the February 6 trade deadline, and one such Raptors player whose name is repeatedly mentioned in trade rumors is 3-and-D wing Bruce Brown.
Before Brown came over to the Six, he made a name for himself as an unsung hero of the Denver Nuggets' 2023 title triumph, which quickly made him a coveted asset in that subsequent offseason.
In Jake Fischer's newest edition of "The People's Insider" for Marc Stein's Substack, he'd mention the following:
"There were roughly a dozen teams, sources say, in line to offer Brown the full MLE during free agency in the summer of 2023 — fresh off Brown’s critical role in helping Denver win the first NBA championship in franchise history."Jake Fischer, January 20, 2025
Despite voicing his intent to resign with Denver during their championship parade, Brown would chase the bag, instead opting to sign a lucrative, but short-term deal with the Indiana Pacers. Brown's time in the Hoosier State only lasted 33 games, which brings us to his current home of Toronto, where he'd be shipped off to as part of the Indiana Pacers' trade to acquire Pascal Siakam.
He'd arrive in the city largely faced as a win-now type veteran playing for a rebuilding squad, which is the continued narrative for Brown up to this point. A couple seasons ago, he was the talk of the NBA town, seemingly from his tremendous contributions at a relatively affordable rate.
There is great reward in seeing something you didn't spend much money on exceeding your expectations, but Brown's current $23 million salary largely offsets that.
He's still a solid contributor in spurts, and surely he could take a leap in a more winning situation. Gotta tip the cowboy hat to Brown too, seeing as he hasn't pulled any real primadonna-like moves since coming over. He's even discussed with the media before and jokingly noted on his social media how he has a point to make about being in Toronto.
But the injury bug hasn't quite been his friend, nor Toronto's overall, and that generous gap has closed in on Brown really fast. So, bearing these points in mind, where does the NBA journey of Bruce Brown lie moving forward?
Fischer would go on to mention in the Substack:
"If no trade materializes involving Brown, he would surely be in great demand as a buyout candidate."Jake Fischer, January 20, 2025
Raptors may buyout Bruce Brown's contract if no trade suitor is found
Yikes. A buyout candidate, you say?
That would be the ultimate worst outcome possible for the Bruce Brown saga in Toronto. His heart was certainly in the right place coming over, but to merely cut his salary and receive absolutely nothing in return would put a damper on the whole Pascal Siakam deal, in hindsight.
Now, Fischer would point out that this scenario is, in fact, the most grim point in Toronto's handling of Brown, but there's certainly a ton of substance to his ideas. $23 million isn't mind-blowing money to match, but has Brown done enough to warrant a trade? The short answer, as it stands right now at the time of writing, is no.
Hence, in a recent article, the call was on Brown and fellow Raptors vet Kelly Olynyk to start shooting their trade stock up with a strong stretch of games, much like Chris Boucher did earlier this month.
The buyout market is just a gold mine for the contending teams, but what good does it do for the ones forced to just withdraw a player and their salary? It's just a last-ditch effort, and by that point, maybe it'd just be best to keep Brown around and see if he has a future in the city after all.
There's no need to hang your heads down just yet; it's merely speculation, after all. But if the final verdict is in and Brucey Brown can't be sent out in a trade, the fallout from a buyout would just make Toronto look foolish in the end.
If that's the case, hopefully that 2026 first-rounder via Indiana turns into a steal of a pick.