Lakers Increasingly Confident in Landing Key Nuggets Player
While it's not the major box office move of the off-season, Bruce Brown's free agency decision is a huge one that will likely have a huge impact on a team. If the Denver Nuggets lose him, it'll be a massive blow to their bench unit. According to a report from Jovan Buha, that's looking more likely.
According to Buha, Los Angeles Lakers have grown increasingly confident in being able to sign Bruce Brown to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception at $12.4 million. This is due to the fact that they are waiving Mo Brown's $10.3 million salary and are not picking up Malik Beasley's $16.5 million team option.
Here is the exact quote from Buha's article for reference:
"The Lakers are waiving Mo Bamba’s $10.3 million salary and not picking up Malik Beasley’s $16.5 million team option, league sources confirmed to The Athletic. The moves put the Lakers in a position to use their non-taxpayer mid-level exception starting at a projected $12.4 million. The Lakers have a strong interest in signing Nuggets wing Bruce Brown Jr. and are increasingly confident they can pull it off.
They also have the flexibility to re-sign Bamba and Beasley at lower salary figures, including the veteran's minimum. Yahoo Sports was first on the Bamba news. ESPN was first on the Beasley news."
If there's one thing that the 2023 NBA Playoffs showed, it's that role players matter. Players like Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are what teams need to win championships, not just superstars. The Nuggets are deep enough to survive without Bruce Brown, but they will absolutely miss him if he's gone.
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