The defending champion New York Knicks have signed veteran wing Bruce Brown Jr. to a training camp contract, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Wednesday.
Brown -- a former NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets in 2023 -- will now compete for one of the final two spots on New York's roster heading into the 2026 season.
In addition to Brown, the Knicks have also signed Jon Konchar, James Wiseman, Drew Eubanks and Ochai Agbaji to Exhibit 9 contracts. It's a similar approach they took last offseason, bringing in an excess of players to set up training camp competition for the final roster spots.
Bruce Brown Jr. joins Knicks' camp battle, but Blazers could've used him for theirs
The Portland Trail Blazers have followed that blueprint with their frontcourt competition as well.
Micah Potter is on a non-guaranteed deal, and Portland more recently brought in the more defensive-minded Jeremy Sochan on a non-guaranteed deal, as they look to set up a training camp competition of their own.
The Blazers could very well bring in more options, but as currently constructed, it's admittedly not quite as exciting as the options the Knicks have.
Sochan is a worthwhile low-risk flier to see if he can benefit from a change of scenery in Portland. But Brown should've been one of the top remaining free agent targets for the Blazers. He has that Swiss Army Knife player archetype every team covets in an end-of-bench player.
Not to mention, the Blazers are hurting for wing depth after a strange offseason resulting in logjams at both the point guard and center positions.
It remains to be seen whether Portland actually had interest in Brown, but it's hard to compete with the Knicks' market and the opportunity to join a team that has already proven it can win at the highest level. Attracting free agents to Rip City has always been an uphill battle, and we're even seeing that on the margins this late into the offseason.
Regarding Brown, the one thing the Blazers could've offered was a clearer path to minutes than the Knicks. Portland lost forwards Jerami Grant, Kris Murray, and Matisse Thybulle this offseason with no clear replacements. Perhaps Potter or Sochan will step up, but regardless, Portland could still use a more perimeter-oriented piece like Brown.
Their wing depth relies heavily on a floor-shrinking Sidy Cissoko and a Vit Krejci who couldn't find his shot after coming over from Atlanta at the trade deadline. With his championship experience and versatility, Brown was the exact type of wing they needed to bring into this training camp competition.
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