Miami Professional Athletes

It was a rough preseason stretch for Miami alumni in the NBA. Within the same week, both Bruce Brown and Lonnie Walker IV — two former Hurricanes guards — found themselves cut loose before opening night, with very different roads ahead.

Bruce Brown: Outlasted by a Former No. 2 Pick

Brown came close. Signed by the defending-champion New York Knicks on an Exhibit 9 contract, the veteran guard spent training camp competing for one of the team's final roster spots and was considered a genuine finalist. In the end, the Knicks chose former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman over Brown, waiving the Miami product Saturday ahead of New York's season opener against Philadelphia.

The decision came down to positional need: with Drew Eubanks already lost to a pectoral injury, the Knicks prioritized frontcourt depth that Wiseman could provide. Brown, a 2023 NBA champion with Denver, now becomes an unrestricted free agent. The situation drew significant attention throughout the preseason — multiple reports urged New York to pursue a trade that would allow them to keep both players — but the Knicks ultimately went with size over versatility.

Lonnie Walker IV: Camp Flop, Then a Transatlantic Pivot

Walker's situation resolved even more quickly. The guard joined Denver on a non-guaranteed deal after previously opting out of a contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, but the Nuggets training camp tryout didn't pan out. Denver waived Walker, who cleared waivers and wasted little time finding his next landing spot — signing with Turkish club Beşiktaş just days after his NBA exit.

The Nuggets, for their part, moved on swiftly: the team signed and immediately waived 28-year-old wing Pedro Bradshaw as part of their ongoing roster maneuvering in Walker's wake.

The Bigger Picture

The twin exits underscore a squeeze that fringe NBA veterans know well — roster spots at the back end are scarce, and training camp is unforgiving even for players with championship pedigree. Brown, 29, still figures to draw NBA interest as a free agent given his playoff résumé. Walker, 27, heads to the EuroLeague circuit with Beşiktaş, a path not unlike the one he took before resurfacing in Denver.

For Miami fans, there's still plenty to track in the Association. Kyshawn George is with Washington, Jordan Miller is in Los Angeles with the Clippers (though he's currently dealing with an injury heading into the regular season), and Isaiah Wong is in Charlotte. But this week belonged to the waiver wire — and two Hurricanes who came up just short of making an NBA opening-night roster.

Bruce Brown isn't just auditioning for the New York Knicks. He's making an argument about the future of the NBA.

The Miami alum — a two-time NBA champion who played all 82 games for the Denver Nuggets last season — entered Knicks training camp on a non-guaranteed deal, the only kind of offer he could find this offseason. The culprit, by his own account: the CBA's second apron rule, the league's most restrictive luxury tax threshold, which limits how teams above it can acquire and pay veterans. Brown says every team he talked to in free agency cited the same constraint as the reason they couldn't sign him to a real contract.

"It's squeezing guys like me out of the league," Brown said, delivering what reporters described as a blunt message to the NBA. The league's most aggressive cost-control mechanism, designed to rein in big-market spending, is having an unintended side effect — experienced, serviceable veterans are finding themselves roster-less not because of performance, but because of accounting.

Making His Case on the Floor

Whatever frustration Brown is carrying hasn't shown up in his game. In a preseason matchup against the Washington Wizards — a team that happens to employ fellow Miami alum Kyshawn George — Brown turned in a performance that gave Knicks brass genuine reason to keep him around. He was physical on defense, functional in pick-and-roll actions, and showed the connective-tissue value that made him a rotation piece on championship rosters in Brooklyn and Denver.

Sports Illustrated noted that the outing gave New York "a good glimpse of his potential value." Yahoo Sports described it as another step in Brown's consistent case to crack the final roster. With the regular season weeks away, the Knicks have a decision to make — and Brown is doing everything possible to make it easy for them.

The Bigger Picture

Brown's situation is notable not just for the human stakes, but for what it reveals about how the second apron is reshaping the veteran middle class. Teams operating above the threshold face severe restrictions: no sign-and-trades, no mid-level exceptions, and limitations on the players they can acquire via trade. The result is a chilling effect on the market for proven veterans who don't come cheap enough to be second-round value or flashy enough to justify the workaround.

Brown, who revealed he turned down other options specifically to take a shot at sticking with the Knicks, isn't shy about naming the structural problem. It's a rare moment of a player going public with criticism not of a team or a coach, but of the collective bargaining framework itself.

Whether New York keeps him or not, Brown's voice on this issue — and his willingness to grind through a training camp audition to stay in the league — makes this more than a preseason transaction note. It's a referendum on what the second apron costs the game, told through the career of one of Miami's most decorated NBA alumni.

DeRozan Brings Veteran Firepower to a Retooled Denver

The biggest Miami alumni story this week came out of Colorado. DeMar DeRozan has signed with the Denver Nuggets on a veteran minimum deal, joining a roster that quietly overhauled itself after a rocky offseason that saw the team lose Peyton Watson (to Cleveland), Tim Hardaway Jr., Jonas Valanciunas, and Bruce Brown. DeRozan figures to fill the scoring void left by that exodus — and his new teammates are taking notice.

Aaron Gordon has already spoken publicly about what he expects DeRozan to bring to Denver: a reliable mid-range scoring presence and veteran composure in high-leverage moments. Nikola Jokic, meanwhile, has reportedly been working directly with several of the Nuggets' new additions in the lead-up to training camp — a sign that the two-time champion is invested in making the new-look group click fast.

DeRozan isn't the only Miami product in a Nuggets uniform. Lonnie Walker IV also joined Denver this offseason as part of the roster retool, giving the Nuggets a pair of 'Canes in their backcourt/wing mix alongside Davon Reed. That's three Miami alumni on one roster — an unusual concentration that reflects just how aggressively Denver shopped the veteran market this summer.

Brown Fighting for a Knicks Spot

In New York, Bruce Brown's path back onto an NBA roster hits a fork. The Sporting News projects Brown — who won a championship with Denver before departing — as a favorite to make the Knicks' regular-season roster over a $6 million veteran who's been pegged as a roster bubble casualty. Brown's championship pedigree and high-motor defensive profile give him an edge in what's shaping up to be a competitive training camp battle. Nothing is guaranteed, but the early read favors the Miami alum.

George Named to Wizards Camp Roster

In Washington, Kyshawn George was included in the Wizards' official 2026-27 training camp roster announced Sunday. George will compete for minutes on a Wizards wing depth chart that also includes AJ Dybantsa, Bilal Coulibaly, and Will Riley. Washington's roster is loaded with young talent and a few marquee veterans — making George's path to guaranteed minutes a genuine competition, but his inclusion on the camp roster confirms he's in the mix.

The Bottom Line

It's a loaded week for Miami alumni across the NBA landscape. DeRozan's veteran minimum flier in Denver is the headliner — a savvy low-risk add for a Nuggets team that needed proven scoring depth fast. If Jokic's early investment in his new teammates is any indication, Denver is treating this as more than a stopgap move. For 'Canes fans watching the league shake out ahead of the 2026-27 season, there's plenty to track — from Brown's fight for a Knicks spot to George earning his place on Washington's revamped roster.