What do you really know about Timberwolves F Troy Brown Jr?

When the Minnesota Timberwolves balked at opting to pay for the option to have power forward Taurean Prince return to the Timberwolves roster for the 2023-24 NBA season, their motivation was not to part ways with him.

Rather, the Timberwolves wanted to make it a more team-friendly arrangement to allow the Timberwolves to extend and sign other players as well. Instead, Prince chose to sign on with the Los Angeles Lakers. In return, the Timberwolves responded by signing the Lakers former forward, Troy Brown Jr., to a contract.

But do you really know who Troy Brown Jr. really is? Do you know how he will make the Timberwolves even more competitive this year? Let’s discuss what we really know about him. He is a 6-foot-6 215-pound forward who was originally drafted by the Washington Wizards as the 15th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

A player of many talents on many NBA teams

He played two-plus seasons with the Washington Wizards, one-plus seasons with the Chicago Bulls, and finally, one season with the Los Angeles Lakers. The best season of his career was his second season in the NBA, a year in which he averaged 10.4 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game for the Wizards. What many do not recognize is that his value has been more defense than offense.

But we’ll get to that momentarily. so where should we begin?

Well to start off, let’s pull up his exit interview from the Los Angeles Lakers:

Curiously, Troy Brown Jr. was frequently praised by Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham for his defensive presence. And while he did not return to their team, that defense is one of the reasons that the Timberwolves added him to the team.