He stay?
As is customary with most of my Bruce Brown pieces, a tip of the cowboy hat to you, partner.
Expectations ran high for his long-awaited return to the court, and in the early stages of his second Raptors season, it wasn't looking all too hot. In fact, Brown's weak progress was starting to look like it would be a tall task to fight a trade suitor who would be intrigued by his services, at least in a "what you've done for me recently" type of way.
But Brown would soon prove you can't count out a championship-caliber vet. In his last three games, the box score stats are telling of a player who's coming back into his own.
January 17 against the Milwaukee Bucks: 20 minutes of action, 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, and six rebounds to go with it.
January 21 against the Orlando Magic: 25 minutes of run, 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting, five rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
January 23 against the Atlanta Hawks: 20 minutes off the bench, 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting, five rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
This is Bruce Brown in his truest form, the guy who stood out as a hidden gem amid a star-studded NBA cast.
The easiest answer to all of this is for Brown to be flipped in a trade, seeing as the Raptors lucked out and got him back to quality status. While you wouldn't be wrong in assuming so, and there is definitely enough insider intel out in the rumor mill to support it, Brown has also made it clear he'd be more than happy to remain in Toronto.
What if the Raptors opt to extend Bruce Brown instead of trading him?
It could just be a smoke screen for a guy who knows he's going to be traded inevitably, but with how good he's been playing of late, maybe the cowboy has a point?
It's kind of like how the Raptors dealt with Kelly Olynyk; an experienced vet, a hometown kid no less, and despite the rebuild, Toronto extended him (which made sense, seeing as they went out to trade for him in the first place). Brown is arguably more desirable in the NBA open market, but his $23 million contract, however, is not so much.
His current costly tag, though not an absurd amount, does make it a little tougher to execute trades. As a result, there have been rumblings that Brown's contract could end up getting bought out if no one can match his price. If the guy wants to stay in the city, much like Chris Boucher has been rumored to want to, then go ahead and keep the cowboy.
He gets along with his teammates it seems, he provides a championship-bred mentality, and at an affordable cost for Toronto, Brown is definitely worth keeping. If they can extend him to a similar deal like Olynyk's, it wouldn't be damaging to their future.
It's what Toronto would be getting back in a hypothetical trade that would ultimately determine the next steps with Brown. If it's draft capital, and worthy picks at that, then by all means, it's best to bite the bullet. A relatively young player with better upside to the Raptors' rebuilding core than Brown—why not say okay too? But there's no telling for sure what's on the table.
Put plainly, the discourse on Brown's future is turning a new tide, and maybe his horse will just keep on riding in the streets of Toronto.