Lakers News: Troy Brown Jr. Will Be Sidelined Through At Least L.A.'s Season Opener

Better now than later, we suppose.

Though your Los Angeles Lakers appear to be getting healthier with the start of the 2022-23 regular season just eight days away, one swingman's progress is moving slower than L.A. fans might hope.

Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times reports that Brown continues to rehabilitate the back injury that has kept him out of the entire four-game NBA preseason thus far. He is expected to be sidelined through at least the Lakers' first game of the regular season, next Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors.

Woike adds that Brown had a solid individual workout ahead of yesterday's 124-121 victory against the Warriors at the Chase Center. He has yet to resume contact practices against his teammates.

Brown was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards out of the University of Oregon.

After two-and-a-half erratic seasons with the Wizards, Brown and his rookie-scale contract were sent, as basically a throw-in, to the Chicago Bulls as part of a three-team trade with Washington and the Boston Celtics.

Through four seasons in the league, Brown has failed to catch on in a major way, despite having intriguing physical tools. Last year, he was a frustrating bench piece for the Bulls, used mostly due to various Chicago players struggling through injury or COVID-19 infections. In 16.0 minutes a game across 66 contests, Brown averaged 4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and an assist, on .419/.353/.769 shooting splits.

The 6'6" small forward/shooting guard, still just 23, signed with L.A. on a veteran's minimum deal in 2022. His absence won't greatly affect the Lakers' rotation. TBJ's 35.3% conversion rate on two three-pointers a game last year is somewhat encouraging, though how much he'll actually play if the Lakers can stay healthy remains to be seen. If Darvin Ham can coax more catch-and-shoot triples and some crafty athletic scoring out of Brown, he could emerge as a fun multi-positional fringe rotation player, but at this point that is probably his ceiling.