Bruce Brown ‘is declining his $6.8million player option’ with the Denver Nuggets

Bruce Brown Jr. could be the first member of the Denver Nuggets championship team to depart, with the guard set to decline his $6.8million player option. 

The Athletic’s Shams Charania is reporting Brown will decline and resultantly become a free agent. 

This does not he will necessarily leave Denver but provides Brown with more options to explore prior to a final decision. 

Although, now that Brown has declined the option, the most Michael Malone’s team can offer is $7.7m.

Throughout the 2022-23 season, Brown averaged 11.5 points per game, in addition to 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals. 

Bruce Brown will reportedly decline his $6.8million player option and become a free agent

Brown was a pivotal member of the Nuggets rotation as the franchise won its first NBA title

Brown averaged 11.4 points PG, 4.4 rebounds PG & 1.0 assist PG in the NBA Finals vs. Miami 

He was unquestionably the Nuggets’ best player from the bench, leading the unit in the aforementioned categories, as well as assists and blocks.

If Brown were to depart from the Mile High city, Nuggets fans, perhaps even rivals, will dig up footage of Brown asking the Denver crowd if he should play ‘one more year’ with the franchise during parade celebrations last week. 

Just last week, Brown told The Denver Post; ‘I want to stay’, before adding ‘It’s a perfect fit. 

‘Money is not everything. The money will come. So I’m not worried about that right now.’

Throughout the Nuggets’ 2023 playoff run, Brown averaged 12 points, 4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. In the NBA Finals, he averaged 11.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 1.0 APG in the five-game series vs. Miami.