Two Former Pacers Find New Home with the Knicks

Two former Indiana Pacers are getting an opportunity to continue their NBA careers with the defending champions.

The New York Knicks have agreed to training camp deals with Bruce Brown and James Wiseman, giving both former Pacers an opportunity to compete for a regular-season roster spot.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported new of Wiseman's deal, which is an Exhibit 9 Contract.

The New York Knicks have signed former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman to an Exhibit 9 deal, team says. The 25-year-old center has averaged 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game in five seasons with the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, and Indiana Pacers.
NBA Insider | Mike Scotto | Hoops Hype

Wiseman's time with the Pacers was certainly unusual.

Indiana brought him back on Dec. 20 using a 10-day hardship exception. He appeared in three more games before being released on Dec. 26. Wiseman was viewed positively inside the locker room, but the on-court fit never completely materialized.

Indiana ultimately went in a different direction at center, signing Micah Potter to a standard non-guaranteed contract on Dec. 26. The Pacers waived Garrison Mathews to open the standard roster spot for Potter while also releasing Wiseman from his hardship contract.

Bruce Brown's tenure was much different.

Indiana made Brown it's biggest addition of the 2023 offseason, signing him to a two-year, $45 million contract after his championship run with Denver.

His stay in Indiana lasted only half a season, but he ultimately became an important part of the franchise's future. Brown was included in the January 2024 blockbuster trade with Toronto that brought Pascal Siakam to Indiana.

Brown later went from Toronto to New Orleans and the Brandon Ingram trade before eventually returning to Denver.

Now he's trying to earn a spot in New York.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported:

"Free agent Bruce Brown has signed a training camp contract with the New York Knicks. The Knicks -- who have two open roster spots -- will have Brown, John Konchar, Drew Eubanks and others enter camp to compete for the final regular season roster."

Brown's deal is essentially a training, camp invitation with injury protection, meaning his place on New York's regular season roster isn't guaranteed.

For Pacers fans, it gives them two familiar names to monitor during Knicks training camp.

T.J. McConnell to Bruce Brown:

“𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝*𝙩 𝘽𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙚.”

McConnell is 7-11 with 15 points through 3 quarters.
pic.twitter.com/4Mtu6f22bd
— Alex Golden (@AlexGoldenNBA) April 10, 2024

Brown once arrived in Indiana as the Pacers biggest off-season acquisition before helping them in land Siakam.

Wiseman received multiple chances to revive his career with Indiana, but could never find a permanent role.

Now, both are trying to earn another NBA opportunity with one of Indiana's biggest Eastern Conference rivals.

You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.

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