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Woj Bomb:
The Nets are sending the 2021 second-round pick via Toronto, per sources. Musa was the 29th overall pick in the 2018 Draft, a versatile 6-9 forward. Nets like Brown's defensive ability, honed in University of Miami program. https://t.co/TzVM04uMC7
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 16, 2020
At first glance, this is a really surprising initial offseason strike. Bruce Brown Jr. seemed like the type of player Troy Weaver classically targets - high character, defensively inclined, athletic. At second glance, the Pistons do have a surplus of shooting guards on the roster - and Dwane Casey very publicly (and somewhat surprisingly) put the kibosh on the Bruce Brown PGOTF experiment late in the season last year, so maybe Brown was superfluous with what the team is envisioning with the roster.
On third glance, that 2021 Toronto pick is not projected to be particularly valuable, and I am even more aggrieved than when I began writing this out.
It’s no secret around these parts that I liked Brown. His growth as a passer and finisher this season, in my opinion, portended good things about his ability to contribute on future good Pistons teams. His ability to defend three positions made him one of the few current Pistons to be effective on that end. And, you know, he had an attitude and swag that I liked.
So, yeah. Gonna miss Bruce Brown.
Dzanan Musa, whom the Pistons receive in this trade, is a 21-year-old, 6’9 wing who played fewer than 500 minutes last season for the Brooklyn Nets. He averaged 18 points and eight rebounds per-100 possessions, but on an eyebrow-raising slashline of 37/24(!!!!!)/75. I am not going to pretend I know what’s up with Musa, but the front office must like him a lot to part with a rotation player to get him.
That’s the opening bell on trade season for the Pistons and the NBA. We’ll see what the Pistons have in store for us in the rest of this compressed offseason.