The Milwaukee Bucks will be quick off the mark once free agency officially opens, with Brook Lopez reportedly set to re-sign for four years, $52 million.
With four key free agents to negotiate with once free agency officially opens on Sunday at 5pm CT, it seems as if the Milwaukee Bucks will be wasting no time.
Marc Stein of the New York Times has hinted that a five-year max deal for Khris Middleton could be one of the first to come through once free agency officially opens, but that has been something of a poorly kept secret for some time now.
According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks will have another agreement to lock down in the opening exchanges of free agency, though, with Brook Lopez reportedly set to re-sign on a four-year contract valued at $52 million.
Once free agency opens at 6 PM ET, Brook Lopez is planning to sign a four-year, $52M deal to stay with the Milwaukee Bucks, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2019
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The Bucks were set to enter free agency with $12.7 million in cap space, meaning that will be used in close to its entirety by this Lopez deal.
Some of that space, of course, was only created pretty recently too, as general manager Jon Horst opted to offload Tony Snell to the Detroit Pistons. It’s worth noting that if the Bucks would like to open up additional cap space, the most obvious path to do so would be to waive and stretch Jon Leuer, who arrived from Detroit in that deal. Doing so would give the Bucks $6 million in cap space, if they feel the need.
As is, there’ll be great relief from all associated with the Bucks that they have managed to secure Lopez’s return so quickly.
After signing on a bargain $3.4 million deal last summer, Lopez proved to be one of the foundational pieces of Milwaukee’s 60-win season. The 31-year-old anchored the Bucks’ NBA-best defense, helped to transform Milwaukee’s long-term rebounding woes, and was crucial in spacing the floor as he set the league record for most three-pointers made in a single season by a seven-footer.
It is a little surprising that the Bucks have opted to sign Lopez for a full four years, particularly when the California native’s age and injury history are considered. Having said that, Lopez’s game projects to age well, as his defense is focused around using size rather than quickness or athleticism, and his shooting awakening has undoubtedly safe-guarded against a dramatic offensive fall-off.
With the deal for Lopez seemingly set, and Middleton another candidate for a speedy resolution, the Bucks’ focus will now turn to Malcolm Brogdon and George Hill.
Brogdon’s situation may take considerably longer to be resolved, as it’s very much possible that he could wait to allow multiple offer sheets to come in and establish his market value. As for Hill, barring Leuer being stretched, or Ersan Ilyasova being traded to shed additional salary, he’ll likely have to settle for the room mid-level exception ($4.7 million) or a veteran minimum deal if he’s to return to Milwaukee.
Either way, having tied Eric Bledsoe‘s future up months ago, and with Middleton and Lopez set to be off the board quickly, the Bucks can feel happy about the start they’ve made to retaining their Eastern Conference Finals squad. Now, the focus will need to shift to Brogdon, and the potentially dicey case of his restricted free agency.