2017 NBA free agency grades: Timberwolves sign two-way deal with Anthony Brown
The Minnesota Timberwolves take a chance at improving their bench by signing a two-way deal with Anthony Brown.
Bench depth is going to be key to the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ success next season. They made aggressive moves this offseason that improved their overall depth from a season ago. The new faces on the Timberwolves so far include Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, Jamal Crawford and rookie Justin Patton.
While the new roster is already looking like a playoff team, the Wolves can still use a little more depth. With limited resources left to use on a proven player, Minnesota will hope someone unproven steps up to the plate. That leads us to the Wolves’ newest signing.
Minnesota just signed Anthony Brown to a two-way contract, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Brown is a 6’7″ small forward who was drafted 34th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015. He hasn’t had the most promising start to his career, but has displayed some signs that he can contribute in the NBA.
During his rookie season with the Lakers, Brown played in 29 games and averaged 4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists. He even started in 11 games during his rookie season. Despite a fast start as a rookie, he ended up playing for three other NBA teams and two G League (formerly known as the D-League) teams throughout the past two seasons. He never matched the 20.7 minutes a game he played with the Lakers with any of the three additional NBA teams he played for.
Brown fights back
There is still reason to be optimistic about the former Stanford standout despite his slow NBA start. Recently, Brown is showing he can still be that prospect who was once projected by NBA scouts to play great wing defense and hit three-point shots. Last season he was phenomenal in the G League and earned himself an All-Star appearance.
Over the course of his time with the Erie BayHawks, he averaged 20.3 points 5.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Most importantly, he improved his three-point shooting percent to 46.6 percent. That is a huge improvement over shooting 28.6 percent from three with the Lakers during his rookie season. That is something that the Minnesota Timberwolves would be able to use if he keeps shooting the ball well.
The video below shows how effective his shot can be when he plays like he did for the BayHawks. The confidence in his scoring ability looks improved compared to his time with the Lakers. Obviously there’s less talent in the G League, but that may be just what he needed to find his rhythm.
This was a good signing for the Timberwolves because of the potential payoff if Brown can shoot above 40 percent from three next season. That would make him one of the best shooters on the roster and allow him to deliver some quality minutes off the bench.
Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far
Additionally, it is a low-risk signing being that the Minnesota Timberwolves are allowed two additional roster spots for two-way contracts in the event that Brown does not pan out.
Grade: C