From the moment Bruce Brown ended up in Toronto as part of the trade that brought Pascal Siakam to Indiana, there has been an expectation the Raptors would quickly flip him in another trade.
The Knicks have been rumored to have interest, and with the Raptors in Madison Square Garden Saturday night, Brown was asked directly about his fit in New York. Brown sounded open to it, speaking to Jared Schwartz of the New York Post.
“I am a dog,” Brown told The Post... “I play extremely hard on both ends of the floor. I can do just about whatever [Thibodeau] needs me to do...
“I play extremely hard,” Brown said. “I would think [I’m] the type of player that he likes.”
When was the last time a player all-but campaigned to be traded to a team like this?
Brown is the kind of rugged, versatile, defense-first player Thibodeau leans towards — they were interested this offseason but couldn’t offer enough to land the free agent (New York could only offer the mid-level exception, Brown got almost $10 million more a year than that). Brown, who played a vital role for the Nuggets during last year’s title run, is averaging 12 points and 4.7 rebounds a game.
Because they just traded for him, Toronto cannot package Brown with another player in a trade (they can take back two players, however). Brown makes $22 million (with a team option for $23 million next year), meaning a trade of Evan Fournier and his expiring contract plus available Quentin Grimes works under the cap.
Toronto may check the market to see what other teams are offering for Brown, but if the Knicks want him this feels like a trade that could get done.
