The Milwaukee Bucks were active at this year's NBA Trade Deadline, with them making a number of moves in hope of getting them over the hump and cementing themselves as true contenders. This offseason, they are set to have another key decision as Brook Lopez enters free agency.
Lopez is now in his seventh season in Wisconsin and has been a brilliant addition to the team as a great frontcourt partner to Giannis Antetokounmpo. This duo has worked together brilliantly and were integral in the 2021 NBA Championship, but as Lopez heads into the offseason at 36 years old, the Milwaukee Bucks have a tough decision to make regarding their starting center.
As a Buck, Lopez has averaged 12.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks on good shooting splits of .482/.356/.826, with him becoming one of the best stretch bigs in the league. This season, however, has been a frustrating one for the Bucks in general. They have moments of feeling close to the NBA's top contenders, but Sunday's defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers shows they are still off the top three teams out East. Lopez has somewhat had a hand in that.
The Bucks were shopping Lopez this season. Will they move on?
Before Lopez signed his latest extension with the Bucks, there had been rumors regarding the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers looking to acquire the veteran center. Those rumors continued through this most recent trade deadline as there was chatter that the front office was floating his name out there.
Al Horford has been a key part of the Boston Celtics while earning just under $10 million this season, and the Bucks would hope Lopez might be willing to move towards a similar number, having earned $23 million for the 2024-25 season. The Bucks' moves to get under the second apron at the trade deadline this season allow more future flexibility financially, but if Lopez's asking price is too high, Jon Horst and co. may have to let him walk.
Lopez had a great partnership with Jrue Holiday as the point of attack defender, landing the center in top-three in D.P.O.Y. voting one season, but since losing Holiday prior to last season, he has been exposed a lot more, even with athletic newcomers such as Kyle Kuzma helping out.
This season, Lopez is still averaging 12.3 points, five rebounds and 1.9 blocks on good shooting splits of .480/.364/.842. There is still clearly a spot for Lopez on the roster with his experience and shooting ability that complements Giannis so well, but if he did return, it would make sense if it came at a much lower cost.
One name that would fit well with the Bucks is Myles Turner, also a free agent this offseason. Whether they could convince him to sign is up in the air, largely due to the financials, but he is much younger and plays in a similar way to Lopez. We have seen Giannis play a lot at center, so they could perhaps look at bringing in a wing and starting Giannis and Kuzma in the frontcourt with a specialist center off the bench.
There are so many avenues the Milwaukee Bucks can explore, but this last stretch of the season and postseason will likely make up their minds regarding Lopez and what their valuation is for him and whether he meets that or his asking price is higher.
The Rockets are a team that could be interesting, with Alperen Sengun as the clear-cut starter at the five, but Steven Adams, his backup, is set to also hit free agency. Lopez has been on their radar and would bring a different dynamic for them offensively while adding more experience to a young team.
There are still so many games left for the Milwaukee Bucks to make their minds up, but it will be a difficult decision no matter what they do with Brook Lopez.
They could opt to keep Lopez while reducing his salary or perhaps aim to start over and hope they can find another big man who has fit as well as Lopez has over the years. We have seen the impact of the younger and more athletic Jericho Sims; perhaps they could go in a similar direction in terms of skill set full-time.
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