Brown is one of the most explosive athletes in this draft, possessing good length, huge hands and excellent strength to make an impact off an NBA bench. His first step is terrific, and he finishes with reckless abandon thanks to his impressive strength, body control, tenacity and outstanding vertical leap. He's worked very hard on his shooting range to the point that he shot 39% from behind the arc as a junior. As a passer, Brown shows good awareness and is very much adept at finding the open man. He puts a lot of pride into his ability to get in right in his matchup's grill and dictate where he wants to lead them. His intangibles are solid as he's been praised for being highly coachable and an outstanding citizen both on and off the court.
At 6-3, Brown is certainly stuck between NBA positions. He has a shooting guard's mentality, but has the size of many NBA point guards. His in-between game is underutilized, as he either explodes past his man on his way to the hoop or pulls up for a 3-pointer, but rarely utilizes the mid-range. He needs to work on creating space to operate offensively beyond just using his outstanding athleticism. Brown has been inconsistent throughout his college career, looking outstanding one night and then silent the next. He lacks the polish on both ends of the floor to truly utilize his excellent physical gifts on a nightly basis.
A former McDonald's All-American, Brown struggled to get consistent playing time in his first season and a half at Michigan State in a rotation that was pretty stacked with players at his position. He was mostly known for the intense defense he brings to the table early on in his career. His coming out party at the national level was in the 2005 NCAA Tournament (see links, articles) where he helped Michigan State reach the Final Four with some outstanding performances, particularly against Duke.
Brown had a very good junior year, averaging 17.2 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 2.7 assists compared with 2.5 turnovers. He shots a solid 47% from the field, 39% from behind the arc, and 83% from the free throw line. Michigan State was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round by George Mason, and Brown had only 5 points on 2/11 shooting in 34 minutes before fouling out.
There is a sentiment that Brown was not able to truly show what he is capable of doing due to head coach Tom Izzo of Michigan State's rigid offensive system. With the way the NBA is warming up to utilizing combo guards in Brown's mold off the bench, he could most certainly have a long and productive NBA career despite his tweener status. It's hard to envision him doing that as a starter, though.
While this former McDonald's All American was forced to play second fiddle to Maurice Ager in Maui, he still wound up having a very nice tournament for himself. It has been known for ages that Brown is an explosive, world class athlete who has the ability to dunk on anyone, but he is really starting to show more of an all around game this year. The Michigan State junior has looked much more comfortable on the perimeter creating his own shot, and has shown improved ball distribution skills for the Spartans. Shannon really showed that he can be counted on as a legitimate complimentary player this year, as he came through big in the scoring department for MSU when they needed him most. The two biggest obstacles that Brown has to overcome are his size (6'3, 6'4 tops) and his lack of ball handling skills, which to his defense, are vastly improved from last year, but still not up to par to make the jump to the next level. While Shannon is able to make up for his lack of size with his great wingspan and gigantic hands, he is really going to have to find a position to solidify himself as a first round pick in the draft, and sticking around for his senior year in East Lansing could really help him do that.