Mikel Brown Jr. could well be the second-best three-level scorer in this draft as a rookie (behind Darryn Peterson), and he has been rising up draft boards following a strong showing at the combine. A point guard who can slide to the two, Brown carries extreme gravity as soon as he crosses half-court, which sets up the rest of his game.
Mikel can probe in the pick-and-roll and operate in the mid-range, and he also showed an advanced ability finishing around the rim in a variety of ways. Additionally,
his passing might be the best part of his game; he reads rotations before they happen and can make any pass, whether that’s a drop pass into the pocket, a lookaway lob to the roller, or a skip to the opposite corner shooter.
But before I go any further into Brown’s game, I think it’s worth discussing his whirlwind last 12 months. Before getting to college, he had a killer performance at the FIBA U19 World Cup, where he was clearly the USA’s best player (AJ Dybantsa won MVP, but most pundits disagreed with that decision, which seemed somewhat political, shall we say). This performance had him sitting at four on many mocks as the college season approached.
Mikel then arrived in Louisville and had a very mixed year. He got off to a slow start, with his shooting percentages not matching his reputation across the Cardinals’ first 10 games. Then, an ill-timed back injury sidelined him for nine games. After rehabbing the injury, Brown returned and really hit his straps—headlined by a 45-point outing in which he hit 10 (!) threes—but unfortunately, he was sidelined after another 10 games as that same back injury reared its ugly head. And, well, that was it for his college career, with the injury keeping him out for the ACC tournament as well as March Madness.
Therefore, it’s somewhat hard to glean what was “real” from Brown’s freshman year. He averaged 18.2 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 3.3 RPG, which are solid counting stats, but he shot just 41.0% from the floor and 34.4% from three in 21 games. I don’t think many people believe those shooting percentages were representative of his shooting ability, but they are a data point you can’t ignore. Teams will have to do their due diligence regarding 1) what the back injury actually was, and 2) how it may have affected his performance throughout the year.
Questions will come about Brown’s ability to handle physicality on both ends at the next level, given his slender 190-pound frame. That said, it should be noted that he has had a massive growth spurt in recent years, growing from 5’9” as a high school freshman to 6’3.5” barefoot, and thus his body may still be catching up; perhaps this growth spurt played a role in his back injury as well.
Anyway, more questions will come regarding Mikel’s capacity to be a bona fide offensive engine in the league. Will he be able to knife into the lane and create against NBA defenders as he did in high school and college, or will he max out as a secondary creator? I don’t think many scouts will project Brown as an elite defender, but him becoming passable or even a slight plus on that end would be a huge win; relatedly, how much sway might his 6’7.5” wingspan have on this evaluation? Ultimately, though, there is just too much skill and upside to pass on; this is a player profile with all the hallmarks of a star.
What are your thoughts on Brown? Also, vote for who should go ninth!
