Bruce Brown makes his mark in Denver, as Michael Malone hoped he would: ‘A perfect fit for us’

DENVER — Michael Malone sat in the bowels of Little Caesars Arena in February 2020, roughly a month before the COVID-19 pandemic would tighten its grip around the world. He chuckled to himself. He shook his head. He made the mental note to himself of someday wanting Bruce Brown to be on his basketball team.

The Denver Nuggets aren’t often going to lose a game where Nikola Jokić notches a 39-point triple-double, but on this dreary night in Detroit, that’s exactly what happened as they fell 128-123 in overtime. They should have won but didn’t because of Bruce Brown. He came off the bench that night and scored 19 points.

That doesn’t even begin to describe his impact. He grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out eight assists. He played 38 minutes.

As a league, the NBA world is certainly round. Brown forged an indelible imprint on Malone that night. He was tough and resilient. He made big plays when the Pistons needed them. He made the important plays down the stretch. Malone remembered him for being one of the more competitive guys his team faced that season. Somehow, Malone wanted to be the man coaching him.

“I remember thinking, we just got beat by Bruce Brown,” Malone said. “He played a great game that night.”

Three years later, as the Nuggets head into Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Brown is playing a key role for Denver. He came off the bench in Tuesday night’s Game 1 and scored 16 points in 24 minutes. He got to the basket off the dribble almost whenever he wanted to. He’s played every perimeter position for the Nuggets this season, on both ends of the floor. Denver is where it is because Jokić and Jamal Murray are in the prime of their careers. But, the Nuggets’ ceiling has been raised to a championship level because of their depth. And Brown has been a major part of that depth.

“We were surprised that he was available on the second day of free agency,” Malone said. “We didn’t hesitate to try and bring him in. He’s been a perfect fit for us.”

What Brown has done for the Nuggets, along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, has been obvious and subtle.

The obvious: Brown and Caldwell-Pope are the defensive wings this Denver team has been searching for since 2020. They are tough defenders on the ball. They are terrific team defenders in help and rotation. They are tough guys who give the Nuggets a shot of swag that simply hadn’t been present on their roster in previous years.

The subtle: Brown has been a gargantuan help for the offense because of his ability to handle the ball. It was a skill that was apparent when he was with the Pistons, but became less apparent in his time with the Brooklyn Nets. Indeed, when Brown played in Brooklyn, he was used a lot differently. Because he wasn’t a knockdown shooter, he was used more as a small-ball power forward, and even as a center. Offensively, Brown found himself in the dunker’s spot, playing next to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Having that role hurt his individual market in free agency over the summer, because he’s 6-foot-4. At that size, and because of the role he played, a lot of the league saw him as a power forward trapped in the body of a guard.

“I knew when I began talking to the Nuggets in free agency that the role was going to be different here,” Brown said. “It was something I looked forward to.”

Once the curtain rose on free agency last summer, the Nets never made Brown an offer, according to league sources who were granted anonymity so they could speak freely. That forced Brown and his camp to look elsewhere for a job. As Malone said, the Nuggets were surprised that Brown was available once they looked at their choices in the second day of free agency. For context, most star and starter-level players who are available as unrestricted free agents typically have a deal in place. For someone such as Brown, who was a major part of Brooklyn’s rotation, to not have a deal in place was a bit surprising.

Brown’s camp wanted to be with a team that would allow him to be a wing, to handle the basketball, to play offensively on the perimeter, and to take three to four 3-pointers per game His time with the Nets hurt him in that regard, because 6-4 power forwards typically do not have long NBA careers.

What has happened is that it’s been more successful than anyone has realized. Brown has been so good for Denver this season, and in the postseason, the Nuggets essentially have six starters. He’s been so good the Nuggets have dominated the non-Jokić minutes in the postseason in no small part due to his presence on the floor. He has not only emerged as a wing, but also has essentially been Denver’s backup at point guard, and has played all three perimeter spots on both sides of the floor.

Brown’s ability to handle the basketball has allowed the Nuggets to play Murray off the ball more, which lessens his responsibility of running the offense and has given him more freedom to look for his own offense. The things that Brown is doing for the Nuggets this season, handling the ball in pick-and-roll, putting pressure on the rim off the dribble, making shots from the perimeter, those were all things he wasn’t allowed to do in Brooklyn.

He has the ability to hit free agency this summer, which makes him remaining in Denver tenuous because the team doesn’t own his Bird rights. And that will limit how much Denver can offer him. But, the Nuggets are seven wins away from an NBA title. They are headed into Game 2 against the Lakers with a 1-0 lead. They have been the best postseason team in the Western Conference.

And a lot of it is because Bruce Brown beat the Denver Nuggets three years ago in Detroit.

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(Bruce Brown: Isaiah J. Downing / USA Today)