Lakers Player Profile: Get to Know Anthony Brown

If the experts were shocked and more than a little critical when the Lakers made Larry Nance, Jr. the 27^th pick in the draft, the team received high praise for choosing Anthony Brown with their second round choice. Brown is that rarest of breeds, a fifth-year senior who will turn 23 in October when the season starts. Not only did he attend Stanford, he was a Second Team honoree on the Pac-12 All-Academic team. Thus, you can assume with a full college career under his belt and a Stanford education behind him, Brown is a smart guy on and off the court. More important, Brown excels in two things the Lakers need desperately, three-point shooting and defense, and he does it from what is currently the Lakers’ weakest position, small forward.

Brown was born in Bellflower, California and raised in Fountain Valley. He graduated in 2010 from Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach. During his high school career he was CIF Southern Section league MVP. Brown led his team to the quarter finals one year, and the finals the next, in the California All-State Championships. He was a three time All-State selection. Upon graduation from high school, he was a four star recruit, ranked the seventh best prep small forward in the nation and the 41^st top player overall by Scout.com.

Brown had a solid career at Stanford. As a freshman he was selected to the Pac 10 All-Freshman team. He scored in double figures 15 times as a freshman. His first college basket was a three-pointer against San Diego State. After missing a year due to injury and redshirting, he came back strong and was the Pac12’s Most Improved Player. As a senior he received All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and was a candidate for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. He averaged 14.8 points and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds per game. He was second on the team in assists. He had many games where he achieved a double-double. Some of his best games were when he scored 25 points against Texas including the go-ahead basket in overtime, when he had 21 points, eight rebounds, and four assists against UCLA, and when he scored 21 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had five assists against USC.

Brown also has international experience. In 2011 he as a member of the USA Basketball Under 19 World Championship Team which finished fifth with a 7–2 record in the FIBA World Championships.

The Lakers have only enough cap space to sign one max free agent this offseason. While the team is very weak at the small forward position, most of the top wing players who are available are “restricted” free agents and thus it will be very hard to pry one of them away from his current team no matter what the Lakers offer. In contrast, nearly all of the top free agent big men this summer are unrestricted. That fact, combined with the team’s decision to pass on Jahlil Okafor, leads most observers to believe the team will use its cap space to try to attract a free agent front court player.

That means the Lakers are likely to go into the season with a question mark at small forward. If they get any free agents to fill that position it is not likely to be a top-echelon player. In fact, some expect Kobe Bryant will play that position at times so that Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell can team together in the back court.

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In short, Brown has a real chance to see minutes off the bench at the small forward position. He made 45% of his three pointers as a junior and senior in college, and he is a solid passer. This is a desperate need of the Lakers, and some feel that Brown’s outside shooting will be an excellent complement to the slashing styles of Julius Randle, Clarkson, and Russell. Equally important, many feel that Brown can develop into a very solid lock-down defender who can guard multiple positions given his quick lateral movement and lengthy wing span.

Once upon a time the Lakers had role players like Robert Horry who had good size, could play solid defense, and could hit the crucial three point shot when Kobe would attack the rim and kick the ball outside. Sometimes Horry would start but often he would come off the bench, and regardless, what is important is not who starts the game but who finishes it. Brown is going to get the chance to do what Horry did. If he can come close, the Lakers will have pulled off a big coup with their second round selection.

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