The Toronto Raptors are looking to continue their quick turnaround, and are hoping to expedite the process by trading Bruce Brown, one of the heroes of the 2023 NBA Champions Denver Nuggets. Brown, who signed with the Indiana Pacers this past offseason for $20 million per year, was traded to the Toronto Raptors as part of the Pascal Siakam trade. With just one year on his contract, the Raptors are expected to trade Brown, who is just 28 years old.
Brown would be a nice get for many teams, with the Utah Jazz being one of them. The Jazz could pull off any number of trades for Brown, as they have well over $40 million in cap space to spend this season. The team could send a second-round pick in 2030 to let Brown off the Raptors, or they could make some sort of multi-person trade, like sending John Collins and Jordan Clarkson over to the Raptors for Brown and Jakob Poeltl.
It's a trade that the Jazz would instantly benefit from. Especially if they end up re-signing Kris Dunn and keeping Walker Kessler. With or without Poeltl, you're looking at a much-improved defense just by adding Brown. That's a key that the Utah Jazz need to address above all else. They have a good enough offense to win, but their defense is awful. If the team wants to continue to run with Keyonte George and Collin Sexton in the backcourt, you need guys like Brown on the team.
Ideally, George and a few picks will be used to land a major guard upgrade so that the Jazz can have some superstar names around Lauri Markkanenn, but in the off-chance that George is here long-term, then a guy like Brown (and Dunn) will only help make George better defensively.
Even if he doesn't become a great defender, one could argue how much worse he would've been without the tutelage of guys like Brown and Dunn.
Brown should instantly makes this team better, hopefully the Utah Jazz are aware of this.