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With the 34th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers nabbed Stanford‘s Anthony Brown, much to my surprise. With two draft picks already in the fold, it seemed very unlikely that the Lakers would add a third rookie to the mix and instead opt to “stash” an international prospect overseas, like Willy Hernangomez.
Instead they opted for Brown, who has the potential to be a solid “3-point and defense” role player pretty quickly. He’s a terrific shooter (over 44 percent in each of the last two years) and is an experienced scorer with solid size, coming in at about 6-foot-7 with a wingspan just under seven feet.
Offensively, he has a few more tricks in his bag other than pure catch-and-shoot ability, as he is a nifty slasher with a decent off the bounce game. He’s well-rounded enough to capitalize on his shooting ability. While not much of a playmaker, he’s a functional offensive rebounder and gets to the line at a pretty healthy rate for a perimeter oriented jump shooter (4.5 FTA over the last two years).
Defensively, he has potential to be above average, but for whatever reason, he currently struggles on that end. He has the physical tools to be effective with his size and wingspan, along with above-average quickness. Despite this, he had a minuscule steal and block rate in college (1.0 combined steals and blocks per 40 minutes).
If he can live up to his defensive potential, he has a good chance to enjoy a sizable career as a role player. That’s a terrific return for a second-round pick, as most fail to make a dent in the NBA. The Lakers’ roster is currently very thin, so Brown should end up making the team, and could possibly see significant minutes off the bench his first year in the league.
He’s a nice fit spotting up alongside Jordan Clarkson or D’Angelo Russell, and should be an upgrade over the atrocity that was Wesley Johnson. The pick was a little out of left field, but a defensible move that could provide good value.
