The Los Angeles Lakers were among those who lost the Jonathan Kuminga sweepstakes, but they can still make some noise in the offseason. They might also be eyeing an NBA champion to add to the mix as they prepare for their first season in the post-LeBron James era.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Lakers could land veteran guard-forward Bruce Brown.
“I think he’s in the mix for the Lakers, a team that has had some interest in him for several years now,” Fischer said on a Bleacher Report livestream.
Brown had said before that the Lakers offered him to a contract after he won an NBA title with the Denver Nuggets in 2023, but he ultimately decided to head East and join the Indiana Pacers.
Several months later, Brown was traded to the Toronto Raptors, who later sent him to the New Orleans Pelicans before the 2025 NBA trade deadline. The former Miami Hurricanes star reunited with the Nuggets, signing a 1-year, $3.08 million contract with Denver in the summer of 2025.
The 30-year-old Brown is not exactly going to be a game-changer for the Lakers if he ends up with them, but he is a piece that can serviceably fill the gaps without taking away significant touches from Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves.
A second-round pick by the Detroit Pistons in the 2018 NBA Draft, Brown has career averages of 8.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists with a 34.4% shooting from behind the arc through 539 games.