Spears: Spurs to sign Derrick Brown

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According to Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears, the Spurs are on the verge of signing forward Derrick Brown to an unguaranteed one year deal. Brown is a 6’8″ swingman who spent time with the Charlotte Bobcats last season. He averaged about eight points and three rebounds per game in 65 appearances last season.

Brown adds another body to the roster for training camp, one that — if he makes it to the regular season — will round out the depth chart for the Spurs. The fact of the matter is, the Spurs are thinnest at the 3 right now. Behind Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson, any spot minutes will be soaked up by Manu Ginobili or Nando De Colo in a smallball lineup. In the event of an injury, there are about 10-15 minutes that could stand to be soaked up.

The other immediate thought is that this is the prelude to a trade. I doubt it’s as obvious as that, but if a deal is swung involving Stephen Jackson and his neatly packaged $10 million expiring contract, the Spurs will need another body at the 3. Integrating one into the system now, as opposed to waiting until they need someone there, isn’t a bad idea.

Looking at the Synergy Sports numbers, Brown appears to be a fairly solid defender. He limited opponents to .63 point per possession last season (good for 40th in the league) and .65 PPP in post-up situations (22nd in the league). Unfortunately, he’s only a 31% 3-point shooter for his career, so it looks like his impact will be strictly defensive.

  • Graham

    Seems like a good situational player, when we need someone to check a hot hand and have enough offense on the floor otherwise. Maybe even the potential to get better if he responds well to the Spurs Program and/or system. Doubt he can beat either Kawhi or Jax out for meaningful minutes at this point though.

  • DorieStreet

    Made it through the audition workouts. If he shows in training camp to be a good defense-first guy and sticks, this could signal that the Spurs are trying to become a top 7-10 defensive squad in the league.

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  • Tyler

    He’s really a 3/4 tweener. He’s a phenomenal athlete, but isn’t quite skilled enough to be a full time/starter at SF. Having said that, he’s the type of athlete/player that is being utilized in today’s NBA - no more big, lumbering PF’s. Instead, quicker, more athletic, perimeter-oriented guys are fast becoming the norm. I think that’s the idea behind the signing. We’ll see.

    He’s also one more athletic, rangy defender to throw at the Durant’s, Kobe’s, Westbrook’s, Nash’s, etc of the world.

  • Tyler

    A (very) poor man’s version of Josh Smith maybe….not quite as long or skilled.