The Pacers have agreed to bring back free agent forward Kobe Brown on a two-way contract, reports Tony East of Forbes.

The 30th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Brown spent his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons with the Clippers before being traded to Indiana in the Ivica Zubac blockbuster at February’s trade deadline.

Although the 6’7″ forward never saw much playing time in Los Angeles, he was given a chance to earn rotation minutes down the stretch for an injury-plagued Pacers team. Brown took advantage of that opportunity, averaging 9.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 24.7 minutes per game across 27 appearances, with a .503/.433/.788 shooting line.

Because he was a former first-round pick who had his fourth-year rookie scale team option declined, the Pacers weren’t able to tender Brown a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent this offseason. However, that didn’t stop the two sides from coming to terms on a two-way deal that will make him eligible to appear in up to 50 NBA regular season games in 2026/27 and will pay him up to $678,882.

The Pacers carried over Taelon Peter and Ethan Thompson on two-year, two-way contracts from last season, so Brown will fill the third slot for the time being.

It’s worth noting though that Indiana still has a two-way qualifying offer on the table for Jalen Slawson and reportedly intends to sign second-round pick Braden Smith to a two-way deal too. The team doesn’t have to sort all that out immediately, but it certainly sounds as if there will be some players shuffled in and out of those two-way slots before the season begins.