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Taipans sign experienced European veteran Jaylon Brown as first import for NBL27 The Cairns Taipans have secured their first import signing of the off-season, signing experienced American guard Jaylon Brown, no, not that one, with the 31-year-old arriving in Far North Queensland as the club looks to improve on last season’s ninth-place finish. Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Brown, a 6’0” guard from Fishers, Indiana, brings a decade of professional experience across Europe and Asia and will play in Australia for the first time in his career. His basketball journey began at the University of Evansville, where he spent four seasons between 2013 and 2017, appearing in 134 games. Brown saved his best until last, averaging 20.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a senior, while shooting 42.7% (38-of-89) from three-point range. That campaign included a career-high 39-point performance against Toledo, shooting 14-of-28 from the field. Unlike many American prospects, Brown headed overseas immediately after going undrafted in 2017, beginning his professional career with Karpoš Sokoli in North Macedonia before moving to Finland with the Vilpas Vikings. In 13 games with Vilpas, he averaged 14.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists. His first major opportunity came in Spain, where he signed with Bilbao Basket in the LEB Oro, the country’s second division. Brown spent three seasons with the club, helping Bilbao earn promotion to the Liga ACB in his first year before proving he belonged at Spain’s highest level. Across 33 regular season games in LEB Oro, he averaged 12.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in his final campaign before going on to make 56 appearances in the ACB. His game reached another level after signing with Hamburg Towers in Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga. READ MORE: Major NCAA ruling could have unexpected impact on NBL clubs Across 33 BBL games, Brown averaged 15.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 35.8% from beyond the arc. He also impressed in EuroCup competition, averaging 16.7 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists across 15 games, establishing himself as a proven scorer against some of Europe’s strongest opposition. Brown also spent a season in the Chinese Basketball Association with the Liaoning Flying Tigers, where he played alongside NBL alumnus Cameron Oliver and current Illawarra Hawks guard Tyler Harvey, giving him some familiarity with the NBL. Most recently, Brown has spent the past four seasons in Türkiye’s Basketball Super League, representing Pınar Karşıyaka, Bursaspor and Petkim Spor. Across 96 regular season appearances, he averaged 12.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 26 minutes per game, while knocking down 37.5% of his three-point attempts. Looking across Brown’s career, one thing stands out. He can shoot. Whether it has been Spain, Germany, China or Türkiye, Brown has consistently shown he can stretch the floor under FIBA rules, something that should translate well to the NBL. NBL Daily: Kings close in on Summer League guard as Taipans set to add local talent The biggest question surrounding his game isn’t his scoring ability, it’s whether he is a genuine point guard. Brown has spent much of his career as a score-first combo guard, someone who looks to attack the basket and create his own offence rather than orchestrate it for others. His numbers reflect that. Across his four seasons in Türkiye, Brown recorded 270 assists and 169 turnovers, good for a 1.59 assist-to-turnover ratio. Those aren’t poor numbers, but they aren’t typically what you expect from a primary playmaker. That doesn’t diminish what Brown brings. He is an experienced scorer who has succeeded across multiple high-level European competitions, but asking him to consistently run an offence may be something of a new challenge unless head coach Adam Forde intends to lean into Brown’s scoring strengths rather than asking him to be a traditional pass-first point guard. “Jaylon brings so much experience playing in the top tier leagues in Europe that I feel so confident his game will translate well over into the NBL. It was important we took our time finding the right fit for our point guard and we definitely feel like we found it with Jaylon,” Forde said. “He is such a dynamic scorer and playmaker. But more importantly is he plays at a pace and speed we want to thrive in again. “He operates so well in the open court and pick-and-roll, that guys like Keanu [Pinder] and Jack [McVeigh] will have so many options available to them, as too will Jaylon.” Brown is expected to begin the season as Cairns’ starting point guard. READ MORE: Banned star’s furious reaction to Cooks drug reveal as reason for different sanctions explained While he has the versatility to slide across to shooting guard, Brown’s 6’0” frame is best suited to the point guard position, particularly against some of the bigger backcourts around the league. If there is an NBL comparison, there are similarities to former championship-winning import Jordon Crawford, with Brown possessing the same score-first mentality, ability to create off the dribble and willingness to take big shots. If Brown can reproduce the scoring form he displayed in Germany and continue the outside shooting that has followed him throughout his career, Cairns may have unearthed one of the off-season’s most underrated signings.