'I'm ready to hoop': Raptors' Bruce Brown fired up for return

TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors haven’t seen the best of Bruce Brown.

They’ve seen his cowboy hats and boots, his collection of trucker hats too.

But that’s because Brown has yet to play this season, and his primary contribution has been his western-themed courtside ‘fits that liven up the television broadcasts, as well as the gift of cowboy boots and hats he gave his teammates early in the season.

And last season?

That wasn’t the best of Brown either, as the seven-year veteran struggled to his stride after being acquired by the Raptors from the Indiana Pacers in the Pascal Siakam deal in mid-January.

His right knee was the culprit, and the player whose game is based on a combination of hustle, smarts and athleticism was lacking the final ingredient.

It made for an awkward fit on his new team, but Brown is confident that the Raptors and Raptors fans will get to see him at best soon enough. The knee eventually required surgery, which he had on the eve of training camp. He’s expected to return to the Raptors lineup sometime on their upcoming four-game road trip, which begins in Cleveland on Sunday night.

“I don’t know if y’all noticed, but last year I didn’t look really engaged or (have) a lot of (the) energy I had with other teams because I was playing on one leg,” Brown said after he joined the Raptors for practice Saturday. “I want that to be addressed: I know a lot of fans didn’t think I played with a lot of energy, and I didn’t want to be here — that’s on social media — but I do want to be here, I do want to play with these guys, it’s a great bunch of guys, great coaches, great organization, but I was literally playing on one leg. It was tough for me mentally, I couldn’t move the way I wanted, play defence the way I wanted, so it was tough.”

Brown also said that with the benefit of hindsight, he wished he had the knee procedure taken care of in the off-season so that he would have been ready for training camp.

“Now, you think back on it, and I should’ve done it,” he said. “I was getting back with the team when they picked up my option, getting back in shape … and then it flared back up.

"If we had knew better (I would have done it) but we knew right before the season, which was unfortunate.”

Brown is aware of how things can look: a defending NBA champion gets traded to a rebuilding team, plays below his standard and then — just as the team picks up the $23-million option on his contract for the 2024-25 season — he ends up having to be shut down and have surgery.

Some things aren’t as they seem, is his message. He felt an obligation to play as much as could for a desperately short-handed Raptors team last season, even it was probably ill-advised, given the problems he was having with his knee.

“I was on one leg. You could watch, first half I was pretty much fine, once the second half started and it got really stiff,” he said. “I couldn’t run, couldn’t move, (but) we had so many guys out, that’s just not how I’m built (to sit out). If I can go out there and play, I go out there and play. It was tough, obviously, it didn’t look good some of the time, I didn’t perform the way I was supposed to, but if I can do a little bit, then why not.”

He’s determined to return to the form that made him a valuable rotation piece with the Denver Nuggets on their 2023 championship team, and one of the most versatile all-around players in the league, one who has played both point guard and centre at times at six-foot-four in stops in Detroit, Brooklyn, Denver and Indianapolis.

“I’m ready to hoop,” he said. “… I can’t wait. I can’t wait.”

Brown said giving his teammates cowboy boots and hats during the pre-season was in part an expression of appreciation for the organization and his teammates’ helping him through a tough time. 

“I’m just happy to be back,” he said. “Everyone here has helped me, especially with the team option, just to be back around this team, these coaches, they all embraced me as soon as I got here. They knew what I was going through mentally last year, so for them to bring me back, I just wanted to give them something and welcome them into my world a little bit.”

The Raptors are excited about the prospect of having Brown back in theirs, and fully healthy this time. As a savvy cutter and disruptive defender, he should be a smooth fit when he gets back up to speed.

“I'm big fan of Bruce,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “A couple years ago, I was studying the best cutters in the league, and Bruce was on the top of that list, just the way he cuts, his offensive IQ, defensive disruption, active hands. I think there is a lot of that he can bring to the team when he's fully healthy, and when he’s right.

“… [last year] was not even close to the best Bruce. He knows that. We know that, and we're really hopeful that to see much better Bruce this year.”