The Portland Trail Blazers have a revamped roster heading into the 2026-27 season. They've now lost Jerami Grant, Kris Murray, Caleb Love, and most recently Matisse Thybulle. That's a lot of wing/forward depth to replace with just one spot remaining on their 15-man roster.
While he won't be the full solution to that ongoing problem, one potential Thybulle replacement that Portland should consider is Bruce Brown Jr.
Last week, Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus named Brown as one of the best remaining free agents on the board. Considering we're approaching August, it's somewhat surprising that the former NBA champion has yet to find a new landing spot.
As a Swiss Army Knife, Brown is a role player who can seamlessly fit in just about anywhere. That includes defense and shooting, two areas that can help fill the void of Thybulle's departure to the Lakers.
Blazers should replace Matisse Thybulle with Bruce Brown Jr.
Size is somewhat of a concern, given his 6-foot-4 frame and Portland's need for more forwards than wings. Hopefully that can be addressed with Micah Potter playing backup minutes at the four, or even Micah Nori experimenting with double-big lineups depending on the matchup.
But it's not like the remaining free agency options at the power forward position are very enticing, and the ones that are aren't realistic options to come to Portland. Brown is the ideal free-agent target at this point because he's one of the best available while still filling a Blazers roster need.
Unless GM Joe Cronin pulls another surprising trade out of nowhere, Brown's championship experience and scalability as a role player are exactly what Portland should be looking for to fill out this roster. With their lopsided roster and logjams at both center and point guard come multiple holes that will be a challenge to address with just one signing.
In a perfect world, Portland would've had more of a sense of urgency when the free agency period opened to fill those roster holes better. But considering where they are now, there's no better option than Brown.
Hopefully, they use Thybulle's departure as a much-needed wake-up call. Brown should've already been an attractive free agency target around the league given his resume, but that could even be more so the case as options like Thybulle and others continue to come off the board.
The Blazers should've retained their two-way wing if they had the chance, but can still make up for that loss by bringing in the best remaining replacement in Brown.
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