Bruce Brown knows that his free agency is the biggest question facing the Nuggets this offseason. He even addressed it at Denver’s championship parade last week.

“One question,” Brown said to the roughly 750,000 fans who swarmed downtown Denver to celebrate the Nuggets’ championship. “One more year?”

Brown officially declined his $6.8 million option for next season today, which wasn’t a surprise. He can still re-sign with Denver, but the most the Nuggets can offer him is a contract worth $7.8 million next season.

Brown would love to return to the Nuggets, but he has a financial decision to make. He could garner more money from another team than what the Nuggets can offer, and Brown has never secured the bag during his NBA career. He’s only made a total of $15 million over his five-year career.

If Brown leaves, the group of free agents that Denver could sign this summer to replace him is rather weak.

Here are some free agents to watch.

• Seth Curry (unrestricted free agent, probably re-signing with Brooklyn)
• Joe Ingles (unrestricted free agent)
• Alec Burks (Detroit team option)
• Donte DiVincenzo (player option with Warriors)
• Dennis Schroder (unrestricted free agent)
• Cory Joseph (unrestricted free agent)
• Torrey Craig (unrestricted free agent, probably re-signing with Phoenix)
• Jae Crowder (unrestricted free agent)
• Justise Winslow (unrestricted free agent)
• Josh Richardson (unrestricted free agent)
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker (restricted free agent, probably re-signing with Minnesota)

The case for Brown to return

I think there’s a decent chance Brown returns to Denver, and here’s why.

First, there’s precedent for a player coming off a championship to re-sign with that same team in the offseason for less money than he could get on the open market, and then sign a larger contract with that same team the following summer. That’s what Bobby Portis did with the Bucks after winning the championship in 2021. Portis signed a two-year contract (with a player option on the second season that he later declined) for $8.9 million with the Bucks during the 2021 offseason. He then signed a four-year, $48.6 million deal last summer.

The Nuggets could follow the same timeline with Brown and he could recoup the money that he would leave on the table this summer next offseason. Brown would be eligible to sign a roughly four-year, $55 million contract with the Nuggets during the 2024 offseason ($12.6M per year), although there’s certainly risk from his perspective by going that route (injury, the Nuggets’ finances shift, etc.)

Second, take a look at the teams that could create significant cap space and offer Brown a big-money, multi-year deal (maybe $12-15 million per year). It’s pretty much Houston, Utah, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Detroit, Indiana, and Orlando. That’s not exactly a group of contenders.

It could be a tough situation for Brown to stomach, especially coming off a championship. We know how competitive Brown is, and I wonder how going from a winning environment like Denver to one of those franchises would sit with him. He’d be moving from a surefire top-4 seed in the West to a team whose best-case scenario next season would be a play-in spot.

Third, Brown loves it here in Denver. He loves the city, the state, and the organization. He also spoke time and time again last season about how much he enjoyed his role with the Nuggets and being able to handle the ball and create offense. This is the perfect situation for him as a player, and I think Brown knows it.

But as we know, guaranteed money right now could outweigh all of those factors. It typically does in the NBA, and I couldn’t blame Brown if that’s the path he chooses. This might be the best chance he’ll have during his career to cash in.