Can Bruce Brown Regain His 2023 Denver Nuggets Championship Form? [Film Study]

Bruce Brown Jr. was fired up after dunking on the Phoenix Suns in the Denver Nuggets’ 125-107 win over the Phoenix Suns

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“Brucie B is back! Uh-oh, might be problems for y’all.”

Aaron Gordon’s delighted grin in a recent ESPN interview as he fawned over the return of Bruce Brown Jr. to the Denver Nuggets reflects a similar mood around the guard’s former team, three seasons after he played an instrumental role in Denver’s first championship victory.

Not only are Brown’s teammates and the organization thrilled to have him back, but fans are also buzzing with excitement, as evidenced by their enthusiastic response to photos of “Brucie B” back in a Nuggets uniform which the team posted on social media earlier this month.

Though Boston-born, Brown always appeared to be most at home in Denver. From his cowboy hats to his love of country music and horseback riding, Colorado is a natural match with his personality and passions.

But more importantly with respect to basketball, playing in the Nuggets’ system in 2022-23 unlocked his game to an unprecedented level. That season, he played the best, most impactful basketball of his career as an intrepid sixth man who energized teammates, electrified the crowd, and helped propel Denver to its first title.

Brown’s dogged grit and contagious vibes are largely what endeared him to the Nuggets fan base, but he delivered on the court that season as well, especially in Denver’s postseason title run. He averaged about 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and half a block on a 56.3% effective field goal percentage in those playoffs – efficient production which dovetailed with the impact he made through his hustle plays and defensive disruption.

On his journey through three teams since then, however, he has seen a dropoff in performance, and missed significant time due to injury, which raises one critical central question going forward:

Can Bruce Brown come close to recapturing that championship form in his Denver return, and help tip the balance for the Nuggets in their pursuit of another title win?

Why He Left – And Why He’s Back

Brown’s breakout 2023 performance made him one of the most coveted free agents on the market the following offseason. But under CBA rules, the Nuggets couldn’t pay him more than about $7.8 million – far below what rival teams could offer on the open market. He ultimately signed a two-year, $45 million deal with the Indiana Pacers, later making stops in Toronto and New Orleans. The move was financially inevitable, but it left Denver without one of their key players who had proven to be a uniquely perfect fit.

Now, after two uneven seasons and a right knee scope in the fall of 2024, Brown is back in Denver on a deal the salary-strapped team could finally afford – a one-year veteran minimum contract at just over $3 million – returning to the NBA environment where his role was most acutely maximized. For him, the Nuggets represent not just a team he won a championship with, but something closer to his true basketball home, the place where he was able to thrive and flourish the most both on and off the court, and where all sides involved have high hopes he will again.

Caveat: Reasons For Skepticism

Despite the jubilation around Brown’s return, it’s important to re-emphasize the fact that his production and efficiency, as well as games played, declined after leaving Denver. His scoring percentages fell, his defensive edge softened, and his fit with other rosters never clicked the way it had alongside Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the rest of the gang in Denver. Playing in systems and situations less conducive to his cutting and off-ball movement, he looked more ordinary, and sometimes overextended when asked to handle larger roles.

The two charts below tracking Brown’s scoring, assists, rebounds and efficiency season-by-season over his career clearly depict the decline since 2023.

Then there’s the knee surgery. While he now appears to be fully recovered, it adds a layer of uncertainty for a player whose game depends heavily on relentless energy. Even a slight reduction in explosiveness, speed, and quickness could diminish the value of his drives, fast-break attacks, and defensive disruption.

The version of Brown that Denver needs is not merely serviceable but dynamic and undaunted – and that’s not necessarily guaranteed after some wear-and-tear and aging (he turned 29 in August), and his less-than-inspiring performance over the last two seasons, which was widely viewed as falling well short of living up to his contract averaging $22.5 million per year.

Counterpoint: Reasons For Optimism

Despite those potential red flags, the Nuggets and Brown together have proven they know how to bring out his best. Their system accentuates his cutting, defense, and versatility. In Denver, he doesn’t have to manufacture shots or shoulder responsibilities beyond his strengths. Instead, his contributions flow naturally out of the team’s ball and player movement and Jokic’s playmaking brilliance. This isn’t a reclamation project; it’s a return to a context proven to amplify him. If there’s any chance for Brown to regain his previous form, he has returned to the most likely place it should happen.

Just as importantly, Brown’s role is shifting back to one that suits him best. After starting more than half his games the past two seasons – including the playoffs, Brown started in just 31% of the games he played for Denver, markedly lower than the subsequent 52% since then – he now returns to the bench behind Murray and Christian Braun. This means fewer minutes, lighter responsibilities, and more freedom to thrive as the multi-dimensional jack-of-all-trades energy player who was so effective in the Nuggets’ title run.

Denver doesn’t need Brown to carry a heavy load; they just need him to accentuate and complement their stars. In that context, there’s good reason for hope that he can again become one of Denver’s more impactful role players, a seamlessly-fit glue piece who fills gaps and boosts the team’s collective spirit with his spark off the bench.

Film Study: Bruce Brown’s 2023 Championship Run Playoff Performance

All of the 101 play clips below, organized into 11 categories based on play type, are clipped from Brown’s 2023 playoff performance in Denver’s title campaign. They represent many of his multi-dimensional contributions to the Nuggets that postseason, where as a glue and gap-filling guy he contributed in so many different ways, doing literally everything and anything he was called upon to do.

(Side note: His three-point shooting is not covered here since it lies outside the scope of this study. While it was sufficiently effective in the Nuggets’ title run at 33%, it was less impactful and important than his other contributions.)

Again, this is not to guarantee or project that he will look like the same player in his return, but to ask the question of how much of this peak performance level he’ll be able to recoup. For him to be a valuable, even essential contributor to the Nuggets’ success this season, he doesn’t necessarily have to recover all of his previous form, but the more of it he can regain, the more he’ll help Denver win.

1. Halfcourt Scoring: Cuts

Brown is one of the NBA’s more dangerous cutters, and this may be the single most valuable aspect of his game in Denver’s system. His ability to time movements with the flow of the offense, especially alongside a playmaker like Jokic, makes him a constant scoring threat without needing the ball in his hands. By staying active and probing for open space, he forces defenders into split-second decisions that often lead to breakdowns. These movements generate not just points for Brown, but structural advantages for the Nuggets’ offense.

This is also where Brown looks most in his natural element. With Denver, he was elite in shifting from lurking at the perimeter to slashing into a seam with precision and quick decision-making. As seen in the clips above, he’s particularly adept at recognizing when his defender is helping off (often to double or hedge on Jokic or Murray), and hitting the timing perfectly. He has a keen knack for understanding and exploiting his more lethal teammates’ gravity and the lanes and spaces it opens up for him.

His cuts aren’t just opportunistic – they’re part of a broader offensive flow that stretches defenses, pulls help away from shooters, and keeps Denver’s halfcourt offense unpredictable. When he was last in Denver, these reads felt instinctual, like an extension of the team’s collective IQ. Restored to that environment, he should be able to reclaim much of this highly efficient form of scoring.

2. Halfcourt Scoring: Driving Layups And Dunks

When Brown puts the ball on the floor, he combines quickness and strength to pressure the rim. His first step allows him to beat slower defenders, while his balance, quickness and body control let him get all the way to the rim and finish through contact. Even if he isn’t a high-volume creator, the sheer downhill directness of his attacks gives Denver a weapon against defenses that try to load up on Jokic, Murray or other offensive threats.

As the clips show, Brown is proficient both in blowing by the defender he’s facing up on, and in aggressively attacking closeouts. Whether he’ll be able to burst with his previously exhibited explosiveness or not will be a key factor here. And although he sustained it in his first post-Denver season, his high at-rim shooting percentages took a hit last year, potentially due in part to injury. But especially when he subs in for Braun or Murray and plays alongside the starters, he should get plenty of opportunities to pounce.

Beyond these plays in and of themselves, what makes his driving more valuable is the ripple effect. Aggressive rim pressure collapses defenses, forces rotations, and creates kick-out opportunities for teammates. Even when Brown doesn’t score himself, his willingness to attack produces chain reactions that tilt defenses out of position. It’s another example of him being able to maximize his role: He doesn’t have to dominate the ball, just leverage his energy and toughness to break open opportunities.

3. Halfcourt Scoring: Driving Floaters

A reliable floater is one of Brown’s underrated weapons. By pulling up short of the rim, he avoids charging into shot blockers while still converting in the paint. This shot is particularly valuable against defensive schemes designed to take away layups and dunks. It gives him an in-between option that prevents defenses from simply walling off the basket. As the clips show, when his drives get cut off or there’s a wall of protection around the basket, he has a great sense of how to exploit the studio space allowed to him in and around the paint (but away from the rim), finding those gaps where opposing defenses are not fully focusing their efforts.

For Denver, this matters because it means Brown can punish defenses that otherwise succeed in clogging up his primary driving lanes. His floater helps him remain a consistent scoring threat in multiple areas of the floor, not just in the restricted area, which helps keep defenses honest or makes them pay when they’re not. In Denver before, these plays often felt like momentum-swingers – not particularly spectacular, but steady contributions that kept the offense flowing. It’s one of the subtle ways he actualizes his best basketball self, turning limited touches into effective results.

4. Halfcourt Scoring: Drives Out Of Pick-and-Rolls

Brown isn’t a star-level initiator, but his ability to run functional pick-and-rolls (PnRs) as the ball handler adds depth to Denver’s offense. He uses screens decisively, turning the corner quickly and forcing big men to commit. As the clips show, when defenders go under, he can build downhill momentum; when they chase, he pressures the rim. The Nuggets’ backup point guard minutes are somewhat in question – third-year player Jalen Pickett is still in the process of proving himself, but is also more of a “pure” point than Brown. But Brown’s ability to operate as the handler should help to allow the Nuggets to buy rest for Murray and let him stagger with the bench, without losing offensive coherence.

In a way, the significance of this is less about raw scoring numbers and more about reliability. Denver can trust Brown to execute these possessions without bogging the game down, and importantly, to continue playing the “right” way according to Jokic (for whom that is of high importance). Brown fits naturally into the team’s offensive approach, and his ability to run PnRs adds an extra layer of badly-needed dependability to Denver’s bench depth. When possessions stall, he offers a straightforward, tough-minded option that puts stress on defenses without requiring heavy scheming.

5. Halfcourt Playmaking (Often As The Pick-and-Roll Ball Handler)

At this point we stay with the halfcourt theme but shift from Brown’s scoring to his playmaking. His capacity to create for others, especially out of pick-and-roll situations as the ball handler, could prove nearly as important as his scoring if he’s able to deliver a near-similar effectiveness as his last Denver stint – especially in light of the departure of Russell Westbrook, who last season was Denver’s main backup point guard and distributor off the bench behind Murray.

As shown in the clips above, in 2023 Brown displayed the ability to read defenses well and deliver timely passes to perimeter shooters or drop off the ball to rolling bigs. Brown’s willingness to mix distribution with scoring makes him less predictable than some more one-dimensional bench guards (see last season’s Westbrook, who lacked scoring efficiency, or Julian Strawther, who didn’t excel at playmaking), and goes back to the essence of his role as a multi-faceted connector for Denver. In situations where he assumes the point guard role alongside the starters, he isn’t just filling time while Murray sits; he ensures the offense keeps flowing and the ball keeps popping.

Also of note in the clips above is the high percentage of Brown’s halfcourt assists which were drive-and-kicks to three-point shooters at the perimeter, where he often found them wide open looks. Per Cleaning the Glass, which discards heaves and garbage time for better accuracy, the three-point percentages last season of the players Brown will be joining were: Jokic 45%, Murray 40%, Aaron Gordon 44%, Braun 40%, new acquisitions Cam Johnson (then with the Nets) 39%, and Tim Hardaway Jr. (Pistons) 37%. That represents a ton of very efficient long-distance weaponry for Brown to kick out to. And with defenses collapsing on drives, and the aforementioned gravity of Jokic and Murray (et al), Brown should be able to consistently find open shooters around the arc at a high rate.

6. Transition Playmaking

Here we stick with the playmaking motif, but pivot from the halfcourt to transition, where Brown shines as an unselfish and quick decision-maker. With Westbrook’s parting, the Nuggets lost their most pace-pushing player from last season, so Brown fills a real need in this capacity. His ability to create on the fast break not only creates easy points but also helps Denver dictate tempo, wearing down opponents over the course of a game, an especially important point of emphasis on their high-altitude home court.

As the clips above show, Brown pushes the pace but generally doesn’t over-dribble, instead swiftly advancing the ball to teammates in stride. Often moving the ball ahead rather than holding onto it, he generates high-efficiency looks – usually at the rim or the three-point arc – before defenses can get set or properly match up.

And in a perhaps more intangible way, Brown’s free-flowing ball sharing reflects and exemplifies the Nuggets ethos as a whole. Denver’s championship run wasn’t just about talent, but creating a sum greater than the team’s individual parts, which largely resulted from a commitment to moving the ball, playing selflessly, and keeping the offense dynamic.

Brown’s transition playmaking embodies that philosophy, and was part of what made him such a perfect cultural and basketball fit in his first Nuggets tenure, as a player who didn’t just mesh with the system, but helped shape the team’s identity by consistently reinforcing its principles.

7. Transition Scoring / Pushing The Pace

Still running in transition but returning from playmaking back to scoring, Brown is just as effective on the break when he decides – usually correctly – to finish plays himself. As the clips show, his grab-and-go ability after defensive rebounds in particular adds a dangerous and potent fast-break element to the Nuggets’ offense. His speed and directness put immediate pressure on backpedaling defenses, often resulting in layups, dunks or drawn fouls. Brown’s transition scoring goes hand-in-hand with his “energy guy” role, and can fuel rapid momentum swings that tilt the balance of games.

One striking thing in that regard is just how much Brown’s relentless tenacity translates into concrete production. A Brucie B fast break was hardly ever “merely” two points; it was an electrifying jolt to the crowd and the team’s momentum. Nuggets fans will remember well those bursts from the 2023 playoffs when his transition finishes often sparked or extended scoring runs. Having returned to the same environment, Brown has the chance to recapture this dimension of his game.

Just how much of that he’ll be able to recover remains an open question. As with the other statistical markers in the charts above, Brown’s points per possession in transition scoring dropped from 1.33 with Denver in 2022-23 to 1.25 and then 1.15 over the next two seasons, per NBA Stats. But alongside one of the NBA’s best defensive rebounders and outlet passers in Nikola Jokic, as well as other teammates who represent more potent offensive threats to scramble defenses than he’s generally had since leaving Denver, Brown stands a good chance of recouping a good deal of his previous transition efficiency.

8. Using Defense To Create Offense (Transition)

So far, we’ve only examined Brown’s offense, but here we (partly) turn to the other side of the ball. One thing that makes Brown especially valuable is how adept he is at generating offense with impactful defensive playmaking. As the clips above demonstrate, He uses great anticipation and quick hands to nab steals that immediately turn into high percentage fast break scoring opportunities. Unlike some defenders who force turnovers but struggle to convert them, Brown excels at finishing the play, either on his own or by setting up teammates.

This two-way impact is one of the reasons why he was so integral to the Nuggets’ championship run. It’s not just about one possession; it’s about the cascading effect of a steal that becomes a dunk, that becomes a fired-up bench, that becomes a scoring run. Plays like these defined his role as a spark plug energy-booster, a player whose effort created leverage Denver could ride through to playoff wins. This is one of the areas where his ironclad tough attitude feels most evident – pressing, hounding, harassing, and instantly flipping defense into offense.

9. Defensive Playmaking/Disruption: Steals

With his ability to disrupt offenses by digging down and poking the ball loose, or jumping passing lanes for deflections and interceptions, Brown proved to be a constant nuisance for opposing ball-handlers. Denver’s defense both thrives and relies on this kind of disruption. Given that Jokic isn’t an elite rim protector, the Nuggets are always in need of guards and wings who can pressure the ball and prevent easy entries. Brown fits this bill extremely well.

As the clips show, he deftly uses his quick hands, six-foot-nine wingspan, and sharp court vision and awareness to pick opponents’ pockets or snatch their passes by perfectly locating himself in their passing lanes. How much of a step he may have lost physically over the last two seasons remains to be seen. But with respect to Brown’s high basketball IQ and his acute ability to read and anticipate the actions of opposing offenses to opportunistically exploit even tiny miscalculations, there’s no reason to think those mental qualities won’t still be fully intact.

Beyond simply leading to turnovers, Brown’s steals can impact games in larger ways as well, by causing opposing guards to play more tentatively, reducing their aggression, and altering the flow of possessions. When Brown was on the court in 2023, Denver’s perimeter defense usually looked grittier and more resilient – as then-head coach Michael Malone used to say, he made opponents feel him – and his return should help to refortify some of that defensive mental toughness and never-say-die mentality.

10. Defensive Playmaking/Disruption: Blocks

Despite standing at six-foot-four, Brown’s timing, jumping ability, wingspan and defensive aggression combine to allow him to block shots, including against bigger players such as Kevin Durant and Bam Adebayo. In four of his first five seasons through and including his first stint in Denver, his block percentage was 86th percentile or higher for his position, per Cleaning the Glass (though as with his other numbers, it dropped off after that). And as seen in the clips, Brown especially excels at coming from the side or behind to erase midrange or three-point jump shot attempts unexpectedly.

Brown’s presence can often feel larger than his size, and that is perhaps most apparent in his blocking game. On a team where Jokic sets the offensive tone, Brown is one of the players who can catalyze a defensive tone for Denver of unyielding intensity. And along those lines, Brown’s blocks don’t just deny points. They’re tone-setting plays that help reinforce the Nuggets’ defensive edge, energize his teammates, and deliver a message to the opposition that no possession will be conceded without resistance, and nothing will come easily.

11. Offensive Rebounding/Putbacks

Finally, another aspect of Brown finding opportunistic ways to contribute is through his persistent effort on the offensive glass, where he’s very skilled for a guard at pulling down boards. This is reflected in the numbers, as he has been in the 80th percentile or higher in offensive rebounding rate in five of his seven NBA seasons, per Cleaning the Glass.

As the clips illustrate, Brown’s instincts for timely slipping into gaps, and his willingness to block out and crash against bigger opponents, tend to create valuable second-chance scoring opportunities. This is another area where both his sharp court awareness and hardnosed toughness help him play bigger than his stature, as is especially evident in the frequency he grabs offensive boards right at the rim for those valuable putbacks which turn missed shots into points on the board.

Conclusion

The film clips above highlight a player who made his mark not by dominating the ball, but by filling every gap, every seam, every little need the Nuggets had. Brown cut, he drove, he floated, he created. He grabbed steals and rebounds, then turned them into points before defenses could react. He embodied the ironclad tough attitude and never-say-die mentality that became synonymous with Denver’s 2023 title run. Watching his impact play out across so many multi-dimensional categories is a reminder of why he was not just useful, but essential – one of the emotional anchors of that team, but also one of their top six most important players on the court in a successful championship run.

The question of whether he can reach that level again is fair, and the skepticism is justified. He’s two years older, coming off a surgery, and hasn’t thrived in heavier roles elsewhere.

But in 2023, Brown’s willingness to do the dirty work of crashing the glass, disrupting and scrapping on defense, selflessly sharing the ball, and just bringing hustle and vigor night in and night out, encapsulated not only his toughness and resilience, but reflected how succinctly he both enacted and shaped the Nuggets’ team-first, me-second culture. And given his and the team’s all-around enthusiasm for his return, those are all qualities which are highly unlikely to have faded.

In Denver, Brown won’t need to be more than what he has already proven he can be. He’ll play behind Murray and Braun, freed from the burden of carrying more than his weight in starting lineups, or propping up (quasi-) rebuilding teams that had unrealistic expectations of him.

In that sense, the stars have aligned in Brown’s return. He’ll be in his natural element, where – importantly – he actually wants to be, and gets the chance to thrive in his most fertile soil.

Even if Bruce Brown recaptures only 75%-80% of his championship form, that’s more than enough to swing some pivotal games, deliver momentum-changing playoff moments, and – significantly – make the title-winning Nuggets family more whole again, with a roster that represents their best chance to win another title since he helped them claim their first.