Raptors Trade With Bruce Brown May Prove Challenging: Here's Why

The Toronto Raptors may want to trade Bruce Brown this summer but a deal could prove more difficult than expected for the organization

Mar 13, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Toronto Raptors forward Bruce Brown (11) dribbles in the ball / Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

A Bruce Brown trade may prove more difficult to find then expected.

The Toronto Raptors certainly took calls for the 27-year-old guard at the trade deadline. They had conversations with the New York Knicks about Brown before New York opted to go in another direction. Had there been a first-round pick available to Toronto without bad long-term money attached to it, the Raptors would have taken it. But that rumored offer Toronto had been looking for at the trade deadline never materialized.

Now there's reportedly a belief that Toronto will look to trade Brown and his $23 million team option for next season at some point early this offseason, per Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. Toronto's plan would be to pick up that option and find a home for the 6-foot-4 guard presumably on team looking to expand their playoff rotation for next season.

That all makes sense in theory, but in practice it could be challenging.

Toronto has to guarantee Brown's salary for next season and therefore any team acquiring Brown that doesn't have cap space or a trade exception big enough to absorb Brown's contract must find matching salary to send the Raptors.

Only Atlanta has a trade exception big enough to take on Brown's contract outright and there are a few contending teams such as Philadelphia, Orlando, and Oklahoma City who have avenues to create cap space, but other than those teams, anyone else would have to send back salary.

For New York, that probably makes a Brown trade less appealing. All the Knicks players making roughly the same amount as Brown are as good, if not better than Brown, rendering a deal essentially useless.

The Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and Milwaukee Bucks have all been interested in Brown at various points in the past year, but none of those teams are in a great position to take on Brown's contract without giving up a player worth more than Brown.

One hypothetical option could be a deal with Chicago involving Lonzo Ball's contract. If the Bulls are determined to contend next year, Brown would give them a useful rotation player, but it's unclear if Toronto would be willing to take on Ball's contract with essentially no concrete plan for him to return next season.

Toronto has until June 29 to decide what to do with Brown's option.