INDIANAPOLIS — Kobe Brown made three 3-pointers in the entire month of December and then just one in all of January. In fact, he only attempted three 3-pointers and 12 total field goal attempts in all of January when he was still in a Clippers uniform.
But when 3-point shot opportunities found Brown during Indiana’s 134-130 loss to the Mavericks on Sunday, the newly-minted Pacer stepped up and let fly as though outside shooting was the reason his new team acquired him. The 26-year-old forward drilled three of them — all catch-and-shoot from three different spots on the floor — on four attempts Sunday and finished with a career-high 15 points to go with seven rebounds.
“I feel like I’ve always been a decent shooter,” Brown said Sunday. “Just, shots hadn’t been going in, but now it’s falling my way so I’m trying to keep it going.”
That fairly sums up Brown’s entire approach to the game since he was acquired by the Pacers just before the trade deadline on Feb. 5 along with center Ivica Zubac for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson and three draft picks. Zubac was obviously the center piece of the deal from the Pacers’ perspective, but he’s still out nursing a left ankle sprain he originally suffered in December and played through for most of January. Brown, however, has been able to play immediately. In fact he’s getting to play more than he ever has consistently as an NBA player, so he’s just trying to keep making the most of the opportunity.
Sunday was Brown’s fifth game with the Pacers and his third straight in which he scored in double figures. In more than 2 1/2 seasons with the Clippers, he scored in double figures exactly twice. In five games with the Pacers, he’s averaging 10.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game including 2.8 on the offensive end. He’s shooting 50% from the floor (19 of 38) and 57.1% from 3-point range (8 of 14). This season with the Clippers he averaged 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds per game and shot 39.3% from the floor and 26.5% from 3-point range. He hit all of 13 3-pointers in his first 34 appearances of the season.
“He knows who he is,” point guard Andrew Nembhard said. “He crashes the boards hard. He’s been really good from 3 it seems like. Yeah, crashing and shooting 3s.”
He gets to crash more and shoot more 3s because he has more opportunities to do so. After being drafted 30th to end the first round in the 2023 draft with a pick that originally belonged to the Bucks, Brown appeared in just 44 games as a rookie and averaged 9.0 minutes per game. Last season, he got even less action, averaging 6.8 minutes in 40 appearances. This year he was at 8.7 minutes per game in 30 games when the Clippers made the deal.
The Clippers made the playoffs each of the last two seasons before losing in the first round and they sit in 10th place this season, holding the final position in the play-in round. They haven’t been in a position where they could try to experiment with personnel and give out a lot of opportunity outside the main players in their rotation.
The Pacers, however are 15-43 after Sunday’s loss and sit alone in last place in the Eastern Conference standings. In part because they conditionally sent their 2026 first-round draft pick to the Clippers — they get to keep the pick if it lands from 1-4 or from 10-30 but the Clippers get it if it’s in the 5-9 range — they are incentivized to lose games the rest of the way and they have been decimated by injuries for most of the year. Along with Zubac and All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton (season-ending Achilles tendon tear), they have three forwards on the shelf in Jonny Furphy (right ACL tear), Obi Toppin (right foot stress fracture) and Aaron Nesmith (right ankle sprain). The Pacers have minutes for Brown, and he’s averaging 26.4 per game.
It makes sense for the Pacers to give him those minutes because he is currently the only player on a standard contract set to be an unrestricted free agent when the season ends. He’s making approximately $2.65 million this season, so they could probably sign him for a minimum salary if they wanted but they might also have a roster crunch after the draft that prohibits it. They at least have to do their due diligence to know what direction they want to go.
“This is a great chance for us to figure out as much as we can about him,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I like the things he’s doing. … When you get an opportunity like this, this is where you can really show what you can do.”
One thing Brown has shown he can do is adapt quickly to the Pacers uptempo, free-flowing style of play which two seasons ago produced the league’s highest-scoring offense and last season carried the Pacers to their first NBA Finals in 25 years. They don’t call many set plays, and the challenge for each player who joins the team — especially in mid-season — is to get a sense of how their teammates move and where they want the ball so they can respond in kind.
Brown admits that’s taken some time and that he’s far from on the same page as veterans who have spent multiple seasons with the team, but he’s much further along now than he was in his first game on Feb. 10 against the Knicks in New York.
“The ball moves,” Brown said. “It never stops moving. Nothing is scripted. It’s all random action. It’s hard not to fit in. … The first game in New York, that was a really good game for us. We won, obviously. For me, it’s just trying to figure out the different actions and where guys like the ball. It’s all random, so you just have to kind of fit in. I was kind of sluggish that game because I was trying to figure out, should I cut? Should I not cut? I feel like every game, it’s just getting easier and easier.”
And as it’s getting easier, the Pacers are seeing the whole of what he can bring to the table. He has power to his build at 6-7, 250 pounds with a wingspan of more than 7 feet which allows him to theoretically guard multiple positions. And prior to his time in Los Angeles — where he made just 26.8% (38 of 133) of his career 3s — he made 45.5% of his 3-pointers as a senior at Missouri. He’s capable of being a versatile player when given the opportunity.
“His body, I think he can rebound with the best of them,” All-Star forward Pascal Siakam said. “Every time he’s out there for an offensive rebound and he’s going for it, it feels like he’s gonna get it. Then if you can knock down a shot, open shots, just playing free — obviously in the flow of our offense, you get a lot of wide open shots — he’s been taking them with confidence.”
Brown’s rebounding capacity has particularly stood out to the Pacers because that’s something that they’ve struggled with so much in recent seasons and a big reason why they pursued Zubac, whose 11.0 rebounds per game this season rank sixth in the NBA. Brown’s 34 total rebounds in the past five games are second-most only to Jarace Walker’s 40 and his 14 offensive rebounds are six more than any other Pacers player in that stretch. Heading into Sunday’s game he was averaging 9.3 rebounds per 36 minutes after averaging 6.7 per 36 minutes in his time with the Clippers. The only two players who have had a better figure for the Pacers this season are no longer with the team — Isaiah Jackson and forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
“I feel like rebounding is just who wants it more,” Brown said. “I pride myself on trying to get offensive rebounds. Defensive rebounds as well, but rebounding the ball in general is one of the biggest keys.”
Playing with that kind of force should keep Brown on the floor for the season’s remaining 24 games, which will in turn give him time to learn more of the offense and more opportunities to hit shots.
“For him he’s got to understand what we want him to do and where we need him to be,” Siakam said. “But I think he’s doing a great job of playing within whatever’s happening and not thinking about it. When you’re open, shoot it. Other than that, just play as hard as you can.”
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Kobe Brown starts strong with shooting, rebounding as Pacers determine his future
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
