The 3 most overpaid Toronto Raptors heading into next season

No. 2: Bruce Brown Jr.

Finding bargains in free agency is a key part of building and sustaining a contender. In 2022 the Denver Nuggets found such a bargain, signing Bruce Brown Jr. to a two-year, $13.2 million deal, well under what many NBA analysts were stating he was worth. That value was not just theoretical, as he played a key role in the Nuggets' run to the NBA Championship.

Brown then opted out of the second year of the contract and signed a massive two-year deal with the Indiana Pacers, a two-year, $45 million contract with a second-year team option. The Pacers had the cap space to make such a move, and it gave them a tradeable salary and the flexibility to decline that second year if Brown didn't live up to the deal.

Indiana ended up doing just that, and Brown was sent to Toronto as part of the Pascal Siakam deal. The Raptors were not able to flip him at the trade deadline, and therefore faced a decision this summer: should they decline the team option that paid him more than he deserved and let him walk for nothing, or pick it up and look for a trade again?

Toronto chose the latter and brought Brown back with the intention of trading him, but thus far have been unable to do so. Brown is the kind of connecting piece good teams would love to have in the rotation, but $23 million is both more than he is worth and a lot of money to match in a deal.

Brown is a low usage player, a good-not-great defender, and a shaky shooter. He is a savvy cutter and decent ball-handler, but overall he's a good role player, not a plus starter. When you factor in the number of ball-handlers already on Toronto, his value to the Raptors is even lower than on other teams given his lack of shooting. $23 million is a lot of money for an ill-fitting, non-shooting role player.