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The Orlando Magic on Sunday announced the signing of Anthony Brown from the Erie BayHawks, their affiliate in the NBA D-League. The 6-foot-7 swingman made his Orlando debut later that afternoon in the Magic’s 118-98 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
The Los Angeles Lakers made Brown, 24, the 49th overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft. Over two seasons with L.A. and the New Orleans Pelicans, his last NBA club, the Stanford product has posted per-game averages of 3.9 points and 2.5 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game.
In 16 appearances with Erie this season, Brown shined, averaging 21.6 points 5.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and one steal while sinking 47.2 percent of his three-pointers.
The Magic’s ailing corps of wing players likely played a role in the timing of Brown’s call-up: starting two-guard Evan Fournier’s status remains uncertain as he recovers from a heel injury, and the reserve Jodie Meeks is expected to miss at least one month as he recovers from a sprained ligament in his hand. OPP staff writer Aaron Goldstone called for Orlando to ink Brown when news of Meeks’ injury broke.
Further complicating the wing-depth situation is the fact that veteran guard D.J. Augustin, upon whom Orlando coach Frank Vogel has relied to play some off-guard this season, sprained his ankle in Sunday’s loss to the Warriors. Should Augustin miss any time, Orlando will be down to C.J. Watson, Mario Hezonja, and Brown at the two-guard position.
Brown logged four minutes against the defending Western Conference champions, tallying two points and three rebounds.