Canes Hoops: Bruce Brown Jr NBA Draft Profile

Bruce Brown Jr will look to become the Canes’ second player picked on Thursday evening. Let’s look at Bruce’s strengths and weaknesses heading in to the draft:

Here is a quick rundown of Bruce’s physical measurements from the combine:

Height: 6’ 5”

Weight: 194.6 lbs

Wingspan: 6’ 9”

Handsize: 8.5”

Vertical: 38”

Physical Comps in the NBA (According to ESPN):

Doug Christie (TOR, SAC): 6’ 6”, 200 lbs

Spencer Dinwiddie (BRK): 6’ 6”, 200 lbs

Physical Evaluation:

Bruce has great size for a NBA guard. His height allows him to switch and guard positions 1-3 on the perimeter. He has a good wingspan, which further contributes to his defensive ability. Bruce is a solid athlete, and is well built for handling the pounding of the NBA. His physical comps of Doug Christie and Spencer Dinwiddie show that he could become a serviceable piece on a good team, or an above average player on a lower-tier team. Bruce is a solid athlete that will be able to use his strength more than his speed or explosiveness.

Bruce’s Stats from 2017-18:

PPG: 11.4

RPG: 7.1

APG: 4.0

SPG: 1.3

BPG: 0.8

TPG: 2.3

FG%: 41.5

3P%: 26.7

FT%: 62.9

Strengths:

• Has proven to work well in the pick-and-roll as an attacker and distributor
• Displays an ability to create offense off the ball through smart cuts and transition
• Good, motivated defender who will switch onto multiple positions and not get moved around
• A strong rebounder for his position

Weaknesses:

• Has an unrefined shooting stroke, and regressed this past season in all shooting categories, sparking concern among NBA teams that his shooting numbers may not improve by much
• Doesn’t handle the ball well enough to create shots off the dribble
• Can be a wild finisher at the rim
• Coming off of a foot injury that kept him out of action for over 2 months

What other’s are saying about Lonnie’s game:

After a breakout freshman season at Miami, Brown came back to school to play his way into the lottery. Instead, he struggled to share the ball with highly touted freshman Lonnie Walker IV, while his 3-point shooting fell off a cliff. After a foot injury prematurely ended his season in January, he became out of sight, out of mind for many NBA talent evaluators. - Johnathan Tjarks, The Ringer

Brown’s intensity and toughness will provide him an advantage over other rookies, but his offensive arsenal is fairly basic at this stage, and it’s not clear how much room he has to improve given his age. - Chris Johnson, Sports Illustrated

Brown’s ability to defend both guard, attack defensive rebounds, get downhill with physicality in space and facilitate in second-side situations should allow him to carve out a role utility guard. More of an unheralded role-player early on, Brown is used to doing the dirty work. He’s valuable holding up against the modern NBA’s many switches, and he’s one of the toughest defenders in the draft. - Mike Schmitz, ESPN

Pre-Draft Articles about Bruce Brown Jr

Canes Hoops: Bruce Brown & Lonnie Walker at the NBA Combine - State of the U

NBA Draft Second Round Sleepers and Steals to Watch - ESPN

Canes Hoops: The Interesting Case of Bruce Brown Jr - State of the U

Jevon Carter, Bruce Brown Jr. take different routes to NBA draft - Philly.com

Be sure to follow along this week leading up to Thursday evening as we bring you coverage of the draft. Could 2 Canes go in the first round? What kind of impact will Bruce make on his new team? Keep the conversation going in the comments.