Bruce Brown Opting Out; One-Plus-One Deal With Nuggets on Way?

Nuggets guard Bruce Brown is declining his $6.8 million player option to become an unrestricted free agent, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

There has been some talk that Brown — a key reserve on the Nuggets’ run to their first championship — may do this. And that the Nuggets may not be able to afford to bring him back. (Denver could only bring him back for about $1 million more, via Brown’s Non-Bird rights)

That said, Brown could always sign another one-plus-one contract, receiving $7.8 million and then becoming a free agent next summer. By all accounts, that could be a real option.

Also, Brown could potentially receive $12.2 million next season if Denver were to throw in its full mid-level exception — but its doubtful the Nuggets will have access to it, since they are expected to be over the luxury tax line.

“I want to stay,” Brown told Mike Singer of the Denver Post after the Nuggets beat the Heat in five games in the Finals. “… It’s a perfect fit. And money is not everything. The money will come. So I’m not worried about that right now.”

Brown, 26, is 6-foot-4 and played everywhere from point guard to small forward, averaging a career-high 11.5 points in 80 regular-season appearances. He averaged 1.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 20 playoff games.