The Los Angeles Lakers had to make many free agent signings this offseason after most of the players they brought in last year proved to be far too old, poor defensively, lazy, or all of the above. The team has course-corrected that in a huge way by signing players that, despite having their flaws, are young, hard-working, and eager for an opportunity to prove they’re better than the small contracts they signed with the team. One of those young signees is Troy Brown Jr., who comes to the team from the Chicago Bulls.
Troy Brown Jr. is a 6’6” wing who averaged 4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 0.5 steals per game in the 2021-22 season. It was his fourth season in the NBA after being drafted out of Oregon by the Washington Wizards with the 15th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Brown was traded to the Bulls before the 2021 trade deadline in a three-team trade that also involved the Boston Celtics.
Theoretically, Brown could be a very impactful player for the Lakers. As previously stated, he has pretty decent size at 6’6”, with that size being desperately needed on the 2021-22 Lakers who seemed to be a roster full of guys who were either big men or very small guards. And although the 2021-22 season marks a career year in this department with no certainty that it’ll continue, Brown did shoot a passable 35.3% on two 3-pointers per game last season. Other than that, he brings a solid level of playmaking from his point-guard days at Oregon and has a knack for creating steals on defense while playing off-ball.
In our most recent podcast that you’ll see above, I was lucky enough to be joined by NBC Sports Chicago’s Rob Schaefer. Schaefer hosts the Bulls Talk podcast for NBC Sports Chicago and covered all of the Bulls season last year.
In the episode, Schaefer talks to me about what he liked from Brown, what he disliked, and how he sees him fitting in with the Lakers. Before wrapping up, we also discuss Lonzo Ball’s knee issue as well as how great Alex Caruso is.
To learn more about what I believe Brown could bring to the Lakers, check out this article I wrote for Silver Screen & Roll.
