Nuggets Guard Reveals He Nearly Signed With Lakers

After the Denver Nuggets' 2023 Finals-winning campaign, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Bruce Brown would be leaving the team in free agency.

Brown had been coming off one of the best individual and collective seasons of his career, was on a Nuggets roster strapped for cap space heading into that offseason as is, and following a successful campaign on a Finals-winning team, had interest from several suitors on the market willing to hand over a nice pay raise.

And per Brown's latest interview with DNVR Sports, it seems like the Los Angeles Lakers were right within striking distance to sign him before ultimately winding up on a two-year deal with the Indiana Pacers.

"I was going to the Lakers after the championship year," Brown revealed. "I was going to the Lakers. Free agency started. They called me... [Jordan Ott] is there. J.O.'s my guy, and they wanted me to be starting point guard."

"So, I'm like: I got LeBron, I got AD, I got guys. They went to the Western Conference Finals. I want to win again. I can be a starting point guard for this, and all I'm doing is giving them the ball and getting the hell out of the way. And I was like, 'I'm going to do it,' and I was going there on a three-year deal."

Bruce Brown Nearly Joined Lakers After Nuggets' Championship

The fit for Brown on a 2023 Lakers roster makes a lot of sense. Following the failed Russell Westbrook experiment that took place in LA, they were bound to search for a new point guard to help run their offense as a connecting piece to the duo of LeBron and AD–– and with what Brown had shown from that season en route to a championship, it was enough for Rob Pelinka and their front office to offer a three-year, $50 million deal.

However, right before that deal with LA was on track to be both announced and accepted, the Pacers would be the ones jumping to the front of the line ahead of the Lakers to sign his services, instead coughing up a two-year, $45 million contract, and one that Brown was happy to accept.

"It was so quick... As soon as I get off the phone, it's basically going to be announced," Brown said. "As soon as I get off the phone, [my agent] calls again. He's like, ‘Hold on, we got a call from Indy... it might be a crazy deal.' Hang up. He calls me again, Two-year 40 [million]. I'm like, what the f–––? Where do we sign?"

Nov 28, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Bruce Brown (11) gestures as he dribbles the ball up court in the first quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Rather than the bright lights of LA being his destination to be their new starting point guard, the Pacers put together an offer that no team was willing to beat, and for Brown and his representation, hitting accept was a no-brainer.

Eventually, that led to a split regular season with Indiana, to then be traded to the Toronto Raptors until the 2024-25 campaign, then dealt to the New Orleans Pelicans in the middle of that season before winding back up in Denver for the present day.

It turned out that, for Brown, he never wanted to leave Denver in the first place, and now after getting a taste of three teams in two seasons, he's now back to where he found his most success, and ready to get right back where he left off for another championship year.

Knowing that the Lakers were lingering in the background to acquire his services only a couple of summers ago certainly makes for an interesting "what-if" situation regarding the Nuggets' veteran guard for how things may have panned out. But in the end, it was a fit that, while intriguing, simply wasn't one that was meant to be.

Bruce Brown Nearly Joined Lakers After Nuggets' Championship

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