Picking up Moses Brown could prove to be one of the better long-term investments the Portland Trail Blazers have made during their busy summer.
Rewarding his solid preseason performance, the Portland Trail Blazers have pulled the trigger and signed Moses Brown to their final available two-way contract spot. He clearly pulled ahead of the pack of other preseason additions such as London Perrantes and Troy Caupain.
Despite being the No. 15 top ranked player in the 2018 recruiting class (per ESPN), Brown went undrafted after playing one year at UCLA. While with the Bruins, Moses averaged 9.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in just 23.4 minutes per game. He also tallied nine double-doubles in his freshman season.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was the first to report news of this signing.
Portland is converting the Exhibit 10 contract of 7-foot rookie Moses Brown into a two-way deal, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 18, 2019
Low-risk, high-reward gamble
Even with this summers’ hectic offseason long behind us, this signing indicates the front office is still flexing their savvy managerial skills. Brown would have never been such a highly touted prospect in the first place if there wasn’t a very talented player lying there underneath the surface.
As a lumbering 7-foot-1 giant, Brown needs to put considerable weight on his 235 pound frame. Working on developing his physique while improving his basketball fundamentals under head coach Terry Stotts’ system is about as ideal as it gets for an undrafted rookie. Ideally, Brown will one day repay the good faith and trust Portland’s front office has placed in him.
No G League affiliate
This deal is especially notable because of the fact the Trail Blazers are one of just two teams without an actual G League affiliate. Most other teams around the league will simply send the fringe members of their training camp roster down to their G League team. The Blazers on the other hand, cannot afford such a luxury.
Instead, Brown will be joining fellow undrafted rookie Jaylen Hoard on the team’s second and final two-way contract. This means he will get to practice and spend up to 45 days on the Portland Trail Blazers roster. As far as I’m concerned, the more time he spends around Damian Lillard and the Blazers’ locker room culture, the better.
Frontcourt uncertainty
Let’s take a good long look at current status of the Portland Trail Blazers frontcourt rotation. Of the seven players capable of holding down the power forward or center positions, only Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins are under contract following the 2019-20 season — and we still don’t know what state Nurkic will return in. That means they’ll be left scrambling to put the puzzle pieces back together next summer.
Instead of shelling out big bucks to get the band back together, picking up a player like Moses Brown is a smart insurance policy — provided he performs well this seasons. Internally developing quality players is a more cost-effective route and a vital part of building a real contender in the modern era of basketball.
Don’t get me wrong, Brown is far from a sure thing. In fact, I’d say it’s more likely he flames out of the NBA than not. But what do the Blazers have to lose? If he fails to make an impression, Portland has no financial obligation to him after this year. If he excels however, then they will have found yet another diamond in the rough.