Troy Brown set to be Las Vegas’ latest NBA first-round pick
Las Vegas is in the process of cultivating a reputation as a hotbed for basketball prospects, and Troy Brown may be the next local to plant the city’s flag in the NBA.
The former Centennial High phenom is set to hear his name called during tonight’s NBA Draft, and there’s a good chance he’ll be the third Las Vegan in the past five years to be selected in the first round.
Following in the footsteps of first-rounders Zach Collins (No. 10 overall in 2017) and Shabazz Muhammad (No. 14 overall in 2013), Brown was anointed as the city’s “next future pro” as early as his freshman year of high school. He averaged 22.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists as a senior and was a top-20 prospect in the Class of 2017, and the heavy speculation was that Brown was a cinch as a one-and-done player at the college level.
He committed to Oregon as a five-star prospect, and after a productive freshman season with the Ducks (11.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists), he declared for the draft.
Now Brown is on the verge of making a longtime dream come true. At 6-foot-7, he has impressive size for a wing player, and his potential on the defensive end has NBA teams intrigued.
After a recent pre-draft workout that was attended by representatives of all 30 NBA teams, Brown said he has adopted a professional mindset.
“This is my job now,” Brown said. “I didn’t get a ton of shots up in college, it was a busy schedule with time management and all that. Now this is my job, so I’m in here every day working as hard as I can.”
Most mock drafts have Brown projected as a mid-first round pick. CBS Sports and The Sporting News have him going to the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 17 pick, USA Today has him going No. 18 to the San Antonio Spurs, and Nba.com has him mocked No. 26 to the Philadelphia 76ers.
One NBA front-office executive said Brown safely projected as a player who could do a little bit of everything, but cautioned that he lacked any one standout skill.
“He’s kind of a jack of all trades, master of none,” the executive said. “He’s a