Advertisement

Drafted 48th by Pacers, Cottage Grove’s Kendall Brown could be next Minnesotan to prove NBA wrong

jace frederick, pioneer press
·4 min read

LAS VEGAS – Kendall Brown still remembers his final days in Minnesota high school basketball well, from East Ridge’s state tournament quarterfinal victory over Eastview to the semifinal drubbing that ensued in a loss to a talented Hopkins team.

Brown was just a sophomore on that team in 2019, and believes had he stayed in Minnesota, a state title could very well have followed. The Raptors were flush with young talent with the likes of Brown, Ben Carlson and Kendall Blue, among others.

But Brown chose to leave after that sophomore season to attend Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas. Minnesota high school basketball certainly features talent, but Brown found the prep school route to provide a better path to receiving the necessary competition game in and game out to continue to hone his skills.

It’s hard to argue with the results. Brown ascended to become one of the nation’s top recruits in the Class of 2021 and went on to play for Baylor, which won the 2021 NCAA tournament title.

The 6-foot-8 athletic wing played an integral role for the Bears last season, helping Baylor garner a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

With his supreme athleticism, size and potential — having just turned 19 two months ago — Brown seemed to represent the upside many teams are looking for in the back half of the first round of the NBA Draft.

So it was a surprise when the Cottage Grove product slipped to the latter half of the second round before he was finally scooped up by Indiana with the 48th overall selection.

“He’s a tools wing with long-term possibilities,” former Grizzlies vice president of basketball operations John Hollinger wrote in The Athletic at the time of the selection. “The offense is a question, but it’s not clear to me what made him less palatable than the run on other young tool wings 20 picks ago.”

Nor is it exactly clear to Brown.

“I guess just shooting?” Brown surmised when asked what NBA teams maybe didn’t see in him. “I don’t know. I’ve shown that I can shoot, and I’ve been working, and I’m only 19. I know my potential and what I can bring.”

That’s shown in flashes already in NBA’s Summer League. Brown has impressed with his defensive versatility and aptitude. He’s dazzled with high-flying dunks, hit a couple of jumpers and showed his feel for the game on a grab-and-go rebound against Sacramento in which the wing took off down the floor like a Maserati in transition, eventually finding a teammate for a beautiful alley-oop.

“I see a lot in him. Just his natural ability to understand the game, it’s there,” Pacers Summer League coach Ronald Nored said. “He’s 19 years old, he’s young, he played one year of college basketball. But he’s got a knack for understanding the game on both ends of the floor.

“Like everybody, there’s things he can do better, but that understanding he has of when to cut, when to offensive rebound, when to drive the ball, when to be in the right spot defensively, those kinds of things, he has that, so we can just build on top of that.”

Brown doesn’t seem to shy away from his draft night disappointment. He noted everyone has expectations of what they want to happen in those situations. Clearly, it didn’t play out as planned for him.

But he’s well aware that his basketball journey doesn’t need to feature a specific starting point to reach his desired destination.

“I’m level-headed, and I just keep praying and staying focused. You can change any narrative that has been set,” Brown said. “A lot of players drafted in the second round just kept going and going and became great players.”

The number of examples of that in recent years featuring only Minnesota natives is jarring. Apple Valley’s Gary Trent Jr. fell to the 37th pick in the 2018 draft, and three years later signed a three-year, $52 million contract. Fellow Apple Valley product Tre Jones was selected with the 41st pick in 2020, and has a strong chance to serve as San Antonio’s starting point guard in just his third NBA season.

Cristo Rey Jesuit alum Jericho Sims was drafted 58th overall just last year, and just signed a three-year deal with the Knicks this past week.

Then there is Hopkins alum Amir Coffey, who went undrafted in 2019 but signed a 3-year, $11 million deal with the Clippers this summer.

Brown could very well be the next overlooked Minnesotan to make a surprise splash when given his opportunity. Brown plans to continue to learn and grow and “elevate” his game, and is excited for all that’s to come with the Pacers.

“Everyone is there to work hard and take care of business, so I’m just glad I’m there in that culture, and I feel like we’re building something big,” he said. “I’m just glad that I’m out here, and I feel like they got a steal in me.”

Related Articles