Shannon Brown — #26 SG
Age:
27
Hometown: Maywood, Ill.
Birthday: Nov. 29, 1985
Height: 6-4
Weight: 210
Position: SG
Experience: 7 years
Draft: 2006, 25th overall by Cleveland
College: Michigan State
2013-14 Salary: $3,500,000
[table id=60 /]
[table id=61 /]
Consult our advanced stats page for a glossary and discussion of the preceding metrics.
Season Outlook: Some fans were unhappy that Phoenix brought Shannon Brown back this season. Indeed his return seemed to be more a product of a bear market for shooting guards this offseason than anything else. That being said, having a player as athletic, aggressive, and driven as Brown on your roster is something most NBA teams would not turn down.
The best word to describe Brown’s play last season is streaky. Early in the year, Shannon was pressing and trying too hard to make something happen on the offensive end. He fell in love with his dribble and his jumper. But that all changed later in the year when Grant Hill was sidelined with injury. Brown stepped into the stating lineup, and made a serious impact on a Suns team that was frantically trying to keep its playoff hopes alive as Brown scored in double figures in 11 straight games down the stretch.
Some might attribute his scoring breakout to his streaky nature; to others the confidence of being a starter played a role. More than likely, it was a bit of both. Although Brown is not expected to start this season, the Suns figure to rely on Brown quite a bit, most likely to provide a lethal scoring threat off the bench. — Ryan Weisert
Biography: Only once he was traded to the Lakers did Shannon Brown start to make his mark in the NBA, but he’s been a human highlight reel for years. As the state of Illinois’ Mr. Basketball in 2003 at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill., Brown was a McDonald’s All-American and won the co-MVP at the 2003 Jordan Capital Classic — LeBron James being the other co-MVP — his senior year in high school.
From there, Brown played three seasons for Tom Izzo at Michigan State, where he went to the Final Four in his sophomore season. In his junior year, the high-flying shooting guard averaged 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists and was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and the Big Ten’s All-Defensive team for the 2005-06 season.
Brown was taken 25th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2006 NBA Draft, where he saw little playing time. As an undersized shooting guard, Brown struggled to stick, and he was assigned to both the Albuquerque Thunderbirds and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers while with the Cavs. In 2008, he was a throw-in to the trade that sent Drew Gooden to the Chicago Bulls. Only appearing in six games with the Bulls, Brown signed a one-year deal with the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2008-09 season. Brown and Adam Morrison were traded midseason to the Los Angeles Lakers for forward Vladimir Radmanovic.
That’s when he began to make his mark. With increased playing time at point guard, Brown played a pivotal role in the playoffs and earned himself a two-year deal with the Lakers following the 2009 playoffs. He proved to be a shot of energy off the bench for Los Angeles and played in all 82 games while averaging between eight and nine points in about 20 minutes per game in his last two seasons as a Laker. He signed a one-year $3.5 million deal with the Phoenix Suns before 2011-12, and then re-upped with a two-year, $7 million deal that’s only partially guaranteed in the second season during the summer of 2012.
Links to ValleyoftheSuns coverage of Brown:
Caught in the in-between: Is Shannon Brown a starter or just a spark plug?
Shannon Brown can prove he’s more than a dunker with Phoenix Suns