Troy Brown Jr. would be intriguing under the radar wing target for Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers know, for the most part, what they have in their Darius Garland-Donovan Mitchell backcourt tandem, and in the starting frontcourt with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Even with a series loss in just five games to the New York Knicks in the first round, those players look to be the core for Cleveland.

Other rotational pieces when looking at next year could still be Caris LeVert, if he is brought back, Cedi Osman, Isaac Okoro, Ricky Rubio, Lamar Stevens and Dean Wade. Granted, the Cavs could eventually be in the right to move on from a couple of those players, we’ll have to see what transpires.

For the Cavaliers, it’s evident they need to target playable bench depth, though, and Cleveland possibly in the trade market to solidify their starting 3/wing outlook seems likely, and would be sensible. Rumored potential targets such as Royce O’Neale, Dorian Finney-Smith and Bojan Bogdanovic seem to be options Cleveland could look to swing a deal for via trade, for example, and any one of those players could be crucial contributors.

Additionally, the Cavaliers could feasibly look to fortify their wing depth in free agency this summer, one would imagine. Names along the lines of Jae Crowder, Kelly Oubre Jr., Torrey Craig and others, such as Joe Ingles and/or Yuta Watanabe, could end up being helpful players for Cleveland, and could in some capacity take some pressure off of Cleveland’s guards and Mobley.

This isn’t to suggest those players wouldn’t be quality signings, but another possible target that might be a more unheralded and younger option could be Troy Brown Jr., who is currently amid a playoff run with the Los Angeles Lakers. Brown is set to be an unrestricted free agent this season as well, and still only turning 24 in July, he might have some more untapped offensive ability to pair with intriguing defensive tools and plus athleticism.

Brown Jr. would be a nice under the radar wing target for the Cavs to pursue this summer.

Brown signed with the Lakers last offseason after beginning his career with the Washington Wizards and then being traded to the Chicago Bulls near the 2021 deadline. With Washington and Chicago, he was predominantly a bench contributor, with averages of 7.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per outing with the Wizards, and splits of 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per contest with the Bulls.

With the Lakers in the regular season, he posted 7.1 points and 4.1 boards in 24.5 minutes per game, which included 45 starts in 76 appearances. Brown has since provided some defensive and energy minutes in L.A.’s current postseason run, with him involved in four games in their first round series win over the Memphis Grizzlies, and getting 12 minutes of run in their Game 1 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

From a Cavaliers’ perspective, Brown seems to be a potential offseason target that might not have the traction of some others, but for a player that could be at minimum a quality rotational player, he seems to be an under the radar guy. He’d be a talented defensive wing to have who can be viable in defense of multiple positions/playtypes.