The Houston Rockets got their free agency deal done with guard target Fred VanVleet, but they didn’t have the same luck with Milwaukee big man Brook Lopez, who is re-signing with the Bucks.
Known for his combination of rim protection on defense and range shooting on offense, Lopez is staying in Milwaukee on a two-year, $48-million deal. Perhaps not coincidentally, that approximate figure of $24 million in annual value matches up almost identically to Houston’s remaining financial space beneath the NBA’s 2023-24 salary cap after agreeing to Friday’s deal with VanVleet.
In short, it would appear that Lopez, 35, leveraged his interest from the Rockets into a larger deal to stay with a contender in Milwaukee. Prior to Houston’s interest, Milwaukee reportedly wasn’t offering a contract anywhere near that rich in terms of annual value.
Dating back to his introductory press conference, new Rockets coach Ime Udoka has mentioned wanting to add “different types of bigs” to the roster to complement Alperen Sengun. That would seemingly point to a need to find a center offering rim protection and defense, criteria that Lopez would have certainly met.
It’s unclear who the next big-man targets in free agency will be for general manager Rafael Stone, or if he might potentially turn to the trade market (Clint Capela?) for an alternative solution.
As of Saturday afternoon, here’s a look at immediate reaction to the news and its implications for Stone and the Rockets.