Why Bruce Brown Might Not Stick With Knicks Despite No-Risk Deal

With the beginning of training camp just under two weeks away, Leon Rose awoke from an 11-week slumber by making a flurry of moves over the last 48 hours, including signing wing Bruce Brown.

The Knicks did well to land Brown at this juncture of the offseason. During his eight-year career, Brown has averaged 8.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He can guard multiple positions, create off the bounce, is a solid slasher/cutter, and brings skills that can't be taught.

That said, Rose didn’t finalize the roster, but instead created a competition that'll take place at practice facility in Tarrytown and throughout the preseason. This, along with roster constraints, means Brown is far from a sure thing to make it to opening night.

Bruce Brown has obstacles to overcome if he's going to last with Knicks

New York has two open main roster spots, but barring a trade, can only keep one player while staying below the second apron. That means veterans Brown, John Konchar, Ochai Agbaji, Drew Eubanks and James Wiseman, all of whom agreed to non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contracts, won't all be sticking around for long.

There is a growing assumption that the Knicks will make a trade so they can keep one wing and one big around. There’s no rush, however, and I’d assume that Rose lets things play out in training camp/preseason.

There’s some redundancy in what Brown and Josh Hart do best, and also what they do worst. New York also has a cast of wings already in the fold, so it by no means needs to keep Brown or one of the other tryout guard/forwards. Speaking of, Brown needs to clearly beat out Konchar or Agbaji to even have a shot at signing to the main roster, which isn't a guarantee.

Like Hart, the 6-foot-4 Swiss Army knife is a winning player and you can never have enough guys like that. Still, he'll need to do enough in a short amount of time to convince the Knicks to trade away someone else—which would allow them to sign him and a third center—and that's no easy task for a player left to sit on the open market all offseason long.

It’s understandable why the Knicks would prioritize battle-tested players. Faith in veterans is the default for most teams in win-now mode, especially when trying to get through the slog of the long 82-game season after playing into June.

Brown is a CAA client and someone the Knicks have shown interest in before. That interest seemed to be very mutual as he all but campaigned to be traded to New York during his days with the Raptors.

"I love New York," Brown, who spent two years with Brooklyn, told Jared Schwartz of the NY Post back in January of 2024. "I hated New York before I lived here, but as soon as I moved here, I loved it. Anytime you want to do something you can go do it. Great restaurants, great city, I love being back”

After winning a title with the Nuggets in 2023, Brown returned to Denver last summer on a veteran’s minimum deal. He averaged 7.9 points and shot a very respectable 38.5% from long distance while playing in all 82 games. That marked his his best shooting season since 2022, yet his lowest scoring average since his rookie campaign.

With apron restrictions and a lack of cap space available across the league, Brown—along with other proven talents like Nick Richards, Gabe Vincent and Cam Thomas—didn't garner much interest on the open market. The Knicks took advantage by sitting tight for weeks and now get a free look at a still pretty useful rotation piece.

You have to love New York's approach of hosting a camp/preseason battle for roster spots. It worked out for them with Landry Shamet last year and it's a good bet that it will work out for them this time, too. Brown can be this year's diamond in the rough, but he has his work cut out for him.

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