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Los Angeles Lakers Rumor: 2nd Round Pick Anthony Brown Set to Start at Small Forward?

| Oct 15, 2015 11:30 AM EDT

Anthony Brown with D'Angelo Russell and Larry Nance Jr.

Before the start of training camp, Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Byron Scott, tinkered with the idea of playing Kobe Bryant at small forward.

The ideal five would look something like: D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson at the backcourt; Kobe and Julius Randle at the wings; and Roy Hibbert manning the middle.

But, another interesting scenario would feature the Lakers' 2nd round pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Anthony Brown, taking the spot of the no. 2 overall pick, D'Angelo Russell.

Will it change the fact that the Lakers are still a lottery bound team? No.

However, putting the former Stanford product as a starter makes a lot of sense in terms of both defensively and offensively.

With Brown at the three spot, Kobe can slide down to his natural position, while teaming up with Clarkson at the back.

In addition, the Lakers will have a solid backup at PG in Russell, who is always ready, willing, and able to share the rock to Lou Williams and Nick Young coming off the bench.

To a certain extent, Byron Scott likened Anthony Brown to that of a legendary San Antonio Spur.

"[Brown] is probably one of our best perimeter defenders," Scott said after the Lakers' first preseason game at Staples Center. "He gets after people, he's not afraid. He's a physical small forward/guard. Runs the floor extremely well, can shoot the ball."

He continued: "I would almost compare him to a Bruce Bowen-type player. I don't want him to do too much off the dribble with the ball, just if you have shots, catch-and-shoot it, but if you're not, pump fake one dribble or two."

In today's NBA, teams love having these Bruce Bowen-mold of players with the likes of Khris Middleton and Danny Green, who ironically, are all 2nd round draft choices as well.

In a way, having Anthony Brown in the starting lineup can create a ripple effect to the Los Angeles Lakers struggling offense.

This move has the possibility of alleviating some of the defensive burdens on Kobe Bryant; owing it to the fact that he doesn't have to guard the opposing team's top wing player.

Also, considering that Clarkson and Randle made significant strides on defense, Brown can somewhat be another piece to build a formidable wing protection.

In retrospect, Brown doesn't have the credentials of a game-changing prospect out of college, nor does he have the physical attributes to be a transcendent NBA wingman.

Like majority of the young core players in the team, Anthony Brown is a potential building block for the Los Angeles Lakers to once again achieve credibility.

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