It is generally believed that the Los Angeles Lakers will look to acquire a starting-level center in a trade this summer. But there is also the possibility they land one in free agency.
Unless LeBron James opts out of his contract and takes a reasonable pay cut on a new one, which he reportedly isn’t expected to do, the Lakers will only have the taxpayer mid-level exception of about $5.7 million to offer to free agents. It isn’t much, but if someone, possibly a veteran, is willing to take a pay cut himself in order to compete for an NBA championship, it could be enough to land a useful player.
One soon-to-be free agent who has been linked to L.A. is center Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks. While he is 37 years of age, he can still block shots, and he is still a threat from 3-point range.
According to Matt Moore, an NBA senior writer, Lopez will likely leave the Bucks, which means he could be had in free agency.
“That said, I’m not expecting the roster to look the way it does now. The team is likely to retain Kevin Porter Jr. and most everyone I’ve spoken to assume Brook Lopez is gone,” Moore wrote in his Substack.
“Lopez might be one of the bigger names on the market. He’s certainly at the end of his career, but like Al Horford, he’s a complete pro and a winner who’s easy to fit into a team culture and find a role for, and still makes a difference defensively night to night.”
Lopez averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks a game and made 50.9% of his field-goal attempts and 37.3% of his 3-point attempts this season. A San Fernando Valley native, he played for the Lakers not too long ago during the 2017-18 campaign.
He made $23 million this season, and while it is risky to depend on an aging player who has 17 seasons of NBA wear and tear, and while the Lakers haven’t exactly had good luck with aging free agents over the years, perhaps he would be a serviceable stopgap solution for them.
In fact, one NBA executive said he’s “sure the Lakers have already talked to” Lopez.