2023 NBA Free Agency: 5 underrated deals that could shift NBA landscape

No. 1 underrated NBA free agency deal: Bruce Brown to Pacers

Contract details: 2 years, $45 million

The best deal of free agency? A lot of the discussion around this deal has centered on the Pacers “overpaying” to steal Brown from Denver, but is this really an overpay? Indiana is a small-market franchise at the back end of a rebuild. Brown’s contract is only two years in length; no max free agents will be clamoring to join the Pacers next summer and Brown’s contract is imminently tradeable in the unlikely event of complete failure.

For now, the Pacers have a proven winner to round out the starting lineup. Brown is the ultimate Swiss Army knife. Want him to set screens and play Draymond-lite in the frontcourt? He’s down. Want him to run pick-and-roll, push the tempo in transition, and operate as a backup point guard? He can do that too.

Brown is a rapid-fire processor who doesn’t need to dominate possessions to impact winning. He’s a premium connector, making the right read every time and frequently setting up teammates for success. The combined I.Q. of Brown and Tyrese Haliburton will have the Pacers’ offense sailing smoothly. Add in the passing acumen of No. 8 pick Jarace Walker in the frontcourt, and Rick Carlisle’s offense should have a lot of fun wrinkles next season.

The Pacers were also desperately short on quality wing defenders last season. Brown supplies instant versatility with his length and competitiveness at the point of attack. He can comfortably toggle between 1-4 in most matchups and he brings tremendous instincts off the ball as a help defender.

Indiana is going to win more games than people expect and Bruce Brown will be playing 35+ minutes per game in the playoffs. Book it. That’s worth $22.5 million per year.