5.23.2018

Whutt Up wit Kedrick Brown?

12/23/2007

The Celtics soon plan to send assistant GM Dave Wohl out to the D-League's Anaheim Arsenal to scout a familiar name: Kedrick Brown.

Yup, the same Kedrick Brown the Celtics took with the 11th pick in the 2001 draft out of Okaloosa-Walton College and who basically turned out to be little more than a human pogo stick. He hasn't played in the NBA since 2005.

But after spending a couple of years of "getting his life in order and his career back on track," according to Arsenal coach Reggie Geary, Brown is back on the radar screen. He's averaging 14.6 points and 5.5 rebounds a game for Anaheim.

"He hasn't just been a pleasant surprise. He's been pleasant, period," Geary said of Brown. The Arsenal took Brown in the D-League draft all the while knowing the kid's NBA career had been of the crash-and-burn variety. He played two-plus seasons in Boston, managing to shine in Summer League but hardly anywhere else.

Danny Ainge traded him to Cleveland in 2003-04 in the Ricky Davis deal and Brown appeared in 55 games that season for both teams. He then ended up in Philadelphia - in a deal involving Eric Snow - playing eight games for the 2004-05 Sixers.

He then pretty much vanished, save for a July 2005 sighting while playing in the Southern California Summer Pro League. He looked at the time like he was on the Shawn Kemp diet. "We knew going into the draft about his history," Geary said. "We knew about his issues from the past. But we were told he did have his act together and his weight was good."

The Arsenal are using Brown at small forward, where he is being advertised as a "Bruce Bowen type." Brown always has been able to defend and Geary said the kid has developed a reliable 3-point shot, as well.

"Of all the guys on our team," Geary said, "I'd say he is the most NBA-ready. But he may need to spend some time here, even a full season, where he can put up good numbers, have no issues, and show he can be a contributor. There's been some interest in him so far, so I think it's probably going to happen."

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