Jonathan Kuminga’s move to Minnesota may have closed one offseason door, but it opened another for the Lakers.
With one of the summer’s longest-running sagas finally resolved, Los Angeles now has to pivot from the Kuminga chase and find another way to patch its roster. The name sitting near the top of that list is familiar: Bruce Brown, the former Denver Nuggets swingman who has been linked to the Lakers for years.
Jake Fischer said Brown remains available and pointed to Los Angeles as a real landing spot.
“Bruce Brown is still out there. To my understanding, he will not be going back to Denver.
He would have been in the mix in Philadelphia, had the Sixers not gotten LeBron James,” reported Jake Fischer. “They had two veteran minimum spots available that went to LeBron and then KCP after LeBron signed in Philly.
Those took up two spots for Brown, and I also think he was in the mix in Houston before they signed Jae’Sean Tate. Bruce just turned 30, and he’s going to be playing for some type of playoff- caliber team this season; it’s just a matter of where and a matter of when.
He’s also in the mix for the Lakers, a team that’s had some interest in him for several years now.”
The timing matters here. LeBron James kept the offseason frozen for months, but now that he’s been signed, the market is finally starting to move again. With training camp only a few weeks away, the Lakers have a narrow window to make one last addition before things get real.
Los Angeles has already reshaped the roster in a major way this summer. After the departures of LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, and Marcus Smart, the team had room to spend and used it to bring in Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Kevon Looney, among others. That group gives the Lakers a competitive base, but there’s still a hole where a starting small forward should be, and Kuminga was supposed to fill it.
That’s what makes Brown so appealing now. The options left on the board are thin, and the Lakers are running low on alternatives. Brown’s numbers - 8.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game for his career - don’t scream headline-grabber, but his value has always been bigger than the box score.
At 6-foot-4, Brown brings a two-way presence that can matter in a rotation. He has championship experience, and he offers the kind of maturity and versatility that can settle a locker room while giving a coach flexibility on the wing. Under JJ Redick, the thought is that Brown could fit cleanly in Los Angeles and help lift the team’s ceiling with his handling, scoring, and defensive awareness.
He’s not going to be the only team in the mix. If Brown is the best unsigned free agent left, the Lakers are almost certainly not alone in chasing him.
But among the possible destinations, they may be the best fit. The waiting game won’t last much longer now.
In Other News...
Lakers Missed A Key Target And Now Face A Tough Roster Call
Jonathan Kuminga is off the board, and the Lakers are left sorting through what his decision means for a roster that still needs help. The young forward has agreed to a two-year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, a deal that gives him a player option for the 2027-28 season and puts him alongside Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball.
For the Lakers, the bigger issue is not just losing a player they were linked to, but having to move quickly into other options. Bruce Brown is one of the veteran guards being discussed as the front office weighs its next step, and the choice now feels less about chasing a target than finding the right fit before the market thins out further. [Read more 🡒]
Jeanie Buss Just Escalated A Lakers Ownership Fight That Could Change Control
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The filing accuses her siblings of secretly arranging a deal designed to remove her as the teams governor, and it seeks their removal as co-trustees of the trust that holds the familys 17.8% stake. With a court hearing set for Nov. 5, the next step could determine not just how the family handles its shares, but who gets to speak for the Lakers at the ownership level. [Read more 🡒]
Former Lakers Champion Was Shut Out Of Latest Ownership Drama
Metta Sandiford-Artest says he tried to get in on the Lakers latest ownership change from the inside, making a $100 million bid for a stake in the franchise when Mark Walter bought the team. The former Lakers champion said he was shut out of the deal, a surprising turn for a player who knows the organization from the title run and believed the teams value would climb sharply in the years ahead.
Sandiford-Artests frustration went beyond one missed chance. He also said he passed on a similar investment opportunity in the BIG3 after his playing career ended, another reminder that some of the business calls around pro basketball are just as consequential as the on-court ones. For Lakers fans, it is a curious footnote to a major ownership shift: a former champion wanted a seat at the table, and never got one. [Read more 🡒]