Source: AAron Ontiveroz / Getty
Last Friday NBA Free Agency opened with a variety of players agreeing to the largest contracts in their careers or even the largest contract they will ever receive in their careers. Both could possibly be true when evaluating the contract that the Indiana Pacers handed NBA Champion Bruce Brown.
In his first five seasons in the NBA, Brown has played for the Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, and the Denver Nuggets. The total amount of money he’s made in those five years is just north of fifteen million dollars. On Wednesday’s edition of the Fan Midday Show with Jimmy Cook and James Boyd, they spoke with Dan Purcell, former NBA front office executive with the New Orleans Pelicans, about the way Brown’s contract is structured.
“They gave him a lot of money up front in one year and he’s kind of betting on himself again. It’s a good deal honestly for both teams in the since of, yes oh my we’re spending twenty-two and a half million dollars on Bruce Brown next year, but it’s not so much that you have to spend all of it the next year either if things for awry. Bruce Brown gets his payday, albeit it’s short term, he can still bet on himself and the Pacers aren’t giving themselves four years of a guy who hasn’t proven yet that he’s a four-year, long term contract type of guy.”
The reason why Brown fits in so well for Rick Carlisle’s team is for a variety of reasons. During his time in Brooklyn, he was often asked to play the four and sometimes even five in their small ball lineup because of the physicality he brings. Secondly, his ball pressure defensively is a skill that the Pacers are lacking. Finally, his efficiency in transition was among the best in the NBA. While with Denver last year, the 26-year-old made sixty-six percent of his shots. If Indiana continues to play at the speed they did a season ago, that efficiency is something that could help the offensive efficiency for the team.
“What Bruce Brown proved was that not only is he durable, he’s tough, he doesn’t take away from anything that goes on the floor, and he actually adds a little bit. We’ll see how exactly how he fits in, but I’ll tell you what, having your two best players being, in my opinion, Haliburton and (Bennedict) Mathurin, it is a great insurance policy especially with Haliburton who gets dinged up at times, to have a guy that can step in and understand how to win, understand how to play, doesn’t muck the thing up and you tread water at least, that’s at worst, with somebody like that.” Purcell stated.
Other topics that Jimmy and James talked to Purcell about were:
- Importance of the team option on the second year of Brown’s contract
- Pacers overpaying in order to address depth
- Jerami Grant’s signing being the end of the Damian Lillard era
To listen to Jimmy Cook and James Boyd’s conversation with Dan Purcell, download the podcast containing the conversation below! You can always listen to the Fan Midday Show from 12pm-3pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan, but you can watch and interact with the show by going to the 107.5 The Fan YouTube Channel.
