Since the days of D'Angelo Russell and Lonzo Ball, the Los Angeles Lakers have been in search of a starting point guard. They tried out different veterans, like Russell Westbrook, Dennis Schroder and Rajon Rondo, but have yet to find a player to fill the position long term.
With the addition of Luka Doncic last season, the front office has been content to add veterans, currently rostering Gabe Vincent and signing Marcus Smart to supplement the position when Doncic and Austin Reaves are off the floor.
That said, it was recently revealed that the Lakers made an offer to a championship-winning point guard, in hopes of luring him to Los Angeles in the 2023 offseason.
As the 2022-23 season came to a close, former Miami Hurricanes guard Bruce Brown had just won a championship with the Denver Nuggets and was a free agent. According to Brown, who spoke about the possibility of joining the Lakers on a recent podcast appearance, the Lakers offered Brown a three-year $50 million deal to become their starting point guard.
Brown was seriously considering agreeing to the deal, but then was offered more money to sign elsewhere. Brown ultimately chose to play for the Indiana Pacers, signing a two-year $45 million deal.
Since then, Brown has been traded multiple times (to Toronto and New Orleans) and returned to the Nuggets for the 2025-26 season.
Brown's strongest season came in Denver's championship year where he averaged a career high 11.5 points per game to go along with 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals.
These days, Brown is averaging 6.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists off the bench for the Nuggets.
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