Tag: Brook Lopez

Lakers reportedly have an eye on trading for Brook Lopez

The Lakers could be looking to trade for Brook Lopez, a veteran center who can rebound, block shots and hit 3-pointers.

When the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship during the 2019-20 season, they had a big lineup that featured Anthony Davis starting at power forward and the tag-team duo of JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard at center.

But they abandoned that setup after the following season, and since then, Davis has played almost exclusively at the 5.

According to one recent rumor, the Lakers could be looking to upgrade at the center position, perhaps in order to return to the setup they had a few years ago. One target they could have is Brook Lopez, a veteran starting center who is currently with the Milwaukee Bucks (h/t The Cold Wire).

Lopez actually played for the Lakers during the 2017-18 season right before LeBron James arrived, and he has since been with Milwaukee, where he earned a championship ring in 2021.

Not only is he a legitimate rebounder and shot-blocker, but he can also stretch the floor. He shot 36.6% from 3-point range while attempting 5.1 3-point attempts a game during the 2023-24 season.

Lopez, who was born in North Hollywood, Calif., is owed $23 million for the 2024-25 campaign.

14 most surprising omissions (Tyrese Maxey!) from the 2024 USA Basketball men’s player pool

Unless these players denied invitations, these are some very shocking decisions by Team USA.

USA Basketball announced a 41-athlete player pool as candidates for the Paris Olympics roster. Eventually, 12 players will make the final cut.

Among the 12 names that we initially projected to make the roster after the 2023 FIBA World Cup, 11 appeared on the first list. Those players were LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards and Mikal Bridges.

A few notable All-Stars to also earn invitations include Chris Paul, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, Trae Young, Jrue Holiday, De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jarrett Allen.

The other players were Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Brunson, Alex Caruso, Aaron Gordon, Josh Hart, Tyler Herro, Chet Holmgren, Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves, Duncan Robinson and Derrick White.

Two players who we did not include in our surprising omissions were Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. While both of these players may have helped the team on the court, they have faced off-court issues that made invitations unlikely — plus Morant is currently injured.

Otherwise, these were the most surprising omissions from the list:

Brook Lopez had an extremely hilarious NSFW message for the officials during a win over the Pistons

Brook Lopez is going to be hearing from the league for this one

Listen, man. As Kyle Kuzma once said, nobody wants to be that team when playing the Detroit Pistons.

This is the worst team in the NBA. Losing to Detroit is probably pretty embarrassing — at least by NBA standards, anyway. So, considering that, being in close games with them has to be kind of frustrating in itself. Especially when the calls aren’t necessarily going your way.

That’s how Brook Lopez felt on Monday when the Bucks played the Pistons for a second night in a row. Things weren’t exactly going Milwaukee’s way. He didn’t feel like the Bucks were getting a fair whistle. So, of course, he let the refs have it.

Lopez had an NSFW message for the three officials in the game.

Sheesh, man. I get it. A close game to the Pistons is frustrating. But protect your pockets, Brook!

Luckily for him, he wasn’t ejected and only got a technical foul for this. But, man. The league office is certainly going to be on his phone very, very soon after seeing this.

Brook Lopez sees smart, winning player in Houston’s Alperen Sengun

Brook Lopez on Alperen Sengun: “He’ll continue to grow and continue to be great. He’s a tough cover. You can see he’s a winning basketball player.”

HOUSTON — Saturday’s game against Milwaukee marks the first time the Bucks’ Brook Lopez will play at Toyota Center since the veteran big man spurned the Rockets during the final stages of last year’s free agency period. He opted to stay with the Bucks.

In comments made at Milwaukee’s game day shootaround, which were captured by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Lopez did not directly confirm widespread reports that the Rockets were led to believe he would sign with them.

Lopez, 35, said it was pretty close and there was mutual interest.

With Lopez not on Houston’s roster, the emergence of third-year center Alperen Sengun has been even more important this season.

While some have argued that Lopez spurning the Rockets was a blessing in disguise, given the increased role for a younger player at his same position, Lopez believes they could have played together. In Saturday’s interview, Lopez was very complimentary of the 21-year-old Turkish phenom, who is now drawing All-Star consideration.

“I’m sure it would have worked out,” Lopez said of Sengun, via Feigen. “He is such a talented, smart basketball player, he would have definitely made my life easy. The way he can score the ball, he can share the ball, you don’t typically see those things in a young player. He’ll continue to grow and continue to be great. He’s a tough cover. You can see he’s a winning basketball player.

“Just being (in Milwaukee) and seeing the way Giannis and I benefit one another, we have games that definitely fit together and improve each other and the team,” Lopez said. “I think obviously, as great as (Sengun) is at what he does, we could have meshed similarly.”

Feigen’s complete Houston Chronicle story can be read here.

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The remaining active NBA players from each draft class between 2003 and 2010

It is truly remarkable that LeBron is still playing as well as he does.

With each passing season, more and more players in the previous generation of the NBA are graduating into retirement.

Some of the most recognizable and dominant players of a beloved era (e.g. Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, etc.) have recently ended their professional playing careers.

As the league begins to look increasingly different every year, we decided to look at which players drafted before 2011 are still active in the league. There are only 30 players who fit those qualifications and only 19 have started more than one game this season.

Here is a look at each NBA draft class and who remains active years later.

All data is provided via Stathead and is accurate as of publishing.

A mic’d up Josh Hart hilariously tried to play mind games on Brook Lopez during Knicks – Bucks

It actually wasn’t the worst advice from Josh Hart to Brook Lopez.

During the quarterfinals of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, Knicks wing Josh Hart had a funny message for Bucks big Brook Lopez.

Hart, who is 6-foot-4, approached the 7-foot-1 center to offer him some strategic advice. Hart said that when Lopez gets the ball near the basket, the Milwaukee big shouldn’t feel “scared” to pass it out to his teammate to avoid the mismatch.

According to Hart, despite the obvious height difference that favors the Milwaukee big by several inches, the mismatch favors the shorter player any time that he is guarding Lopez.

Hart was joking, but let’s look into this one! For what it is worth, using the matchup database via NBA.com, Hart has defended Lopez on 31.5 partial possessions since 2018-19.

The big man is shooting 3-of-7 (42.8 percent) on these opportunities and has scored eight points. Lopez has also recorded three assists and three turnovers on these matchups. Not bad!

While the advice from Hart about a mismatch is tongue-in-cheek, it is also actually not the most awful observation. Lopez is averaging just 0.1 passes per game after post-up possessions this season, via NBA.com.

Last season, his pass percentage on post-ups ranked as the second-lowest (minimum: 40 post-ups) in the league. So perhaps, no matter who is assigned to guard Lopez, he should consider Hart’s suggestion.

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Projected starters for the Bucks after a huge trade united Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo

This is a WILDLY exciting move for Milwaukee.

After months of speculation, it finally happened: Damian Lillard was traded from the Portland Trail Blazers.

The seven-time All-Star is reportedly headed to the Milwaukee Bucks in a multi-team deal also involving Jrue Holiday and Deandre Ayton. As of right now, with a star paring of Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks are widely considered favorites to win the Eastern Conference.

While the loss of Holiday is definitely a massive hit to Milwaukee’s defensive identity, the Bucks still have an elite defensive presence with Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez.

Lillard, meanwhile, should provide an immediate bolster to the offense for the Bucks next season and beyond. Under new head coach Adrian Griffin, the Milwaukee offense will now have a top-tier offensive self-creator.

Here is what the rest of the starting lineup may look like for the Bucks:

Bucks (early) offseason review: Is this the beginning of the end for them?

The Bucks have Brook Lopez back for now, but they’re in a downward trend that puts the team’s future in question.

The Houston Rockets came into the offseason with plans to destabilize the Eastern Conference. After coming to terms on a three-year, $128.5 million agreement with Fred VanVleet, they were working hard to steal Brook Lopez from the Bucks. Ultimately, Lopez returned to Milwaukee for two years, $48 million, and according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Rockets had a similar contract offer.

Losing Lopez would have been a significant step back for the Bucks that they probably wouldn’t have been able to recover from this season. Although they’re fine for now, they are limited in ways to improve the roster this year. But for the first 24 hours of free agency, their mortality was on bright display as they absolutely could not afford to lose Lopez. This iteration of the Bucks could be closer to finished than we think, which could lead to questions surrounding the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Did Rockets make recent trades expecting Brook Lopez to join?

Houston’s trade sending Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington to Atlanta may have been made with an expectation of landing Brook Lopez… who stayed in Milwaukee.

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The Rockets made two marquee veteran signings, Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, in the first wave of 2023 free agency. Houston entered this window with approximately $66 million in financial room beneath the NBA’s salary cap, most of any team in the league.

That was enough to fit both VanVleet and Brooks, so why did the Rockets send a pair of recent first-round picks (Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington) to Atlanta to clear more space?

It may have had to do with a third veteran target, Brook Lopez, who ultimately spurned the Rockets and returned to Milwaukee. Jonathan Feigen, longtime beat writer for the Houston Chronicle, said it “would be unusual for the Rockets to have locked in the cap-clearing trades absent a commitment from a player.”

Among his comments:

The deals to move some of the recent draft picks cleared cap room at a time the Rockets already had plenty. Given the interest in Brook Lopez, the deals could indicate that they were trying to have extra cap room to sign not just VanVleet and Brooks, but for Lopez as well, and had already reached agreements on the trades.

It would be unusual for the Rockets to have locked in the cap-clearing trades absent a commitment from a player, especially considering the ample cap room they had when free agent shopping began.

When Lopez opted to stay in Milwaukee, the Rockets pivoted, using some of that room for depth at center with Jock Landale and Jeff Green.

It’s worth noting that news of Lopez rejecting the Rockets leaked midday Saturday, hours before the announcement of Houston’s cap-clearing trade with the Hawks. Even so, it’s plausible that perhaps general manager Rafael Stone and Houston’s front office decided to honor a commitment that was made (while expecting Lopez), even though that expectation did not play out.

So, did Lopez make a commitment and back out? Is this the 2023 Houston version of Dallas’ 2015 DeAndre Jordan saga? Although in this case, it should be noted that if there was a commitment, it wasn’t leaked to the media — unlike what happened with Jordan.

Time will tell as more of the back story emerges.

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Podcast: Reaction to Houston’s chaotic start in 2023 free agency

Sunday’s @TheLagerLine breaks down Houston’s 2023 free agency to date, including the Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks additions and a Brook Lopez rejection. #Rockets

In a whirlwind start to the NBA’s 2023 free agency window, the Houston Rockets landed two of their three preferred targets: Toronto guard Fred VanVleet and Memphis wing Dillon Brooks. They missed, however, on Milwaukee big man Brook Lopez.

The Rockets also made a string of other deals as they reshuffled their roster for new head coach Ime Udoka. They sent out KJ Martin, Usman Garuba, TyTy Washington and Josh Christopher while bringing in veteran role players Jeff Green and Jock Landale.

So, for a window in which Houston achieved some of its goals but not all, how should Rockets fans feel about the offseason work of general manager Rafael Stone? Ben DuBose and Paulo Alves dive into both the positives and negatives as part of their latest podcast.

Sunday afternoon’s show, which is sponsored by Clutch City Lager of Karbach Brewing, can be listened to below. Each episode of the show is also made available via flagship radio station SportsTalk 790 and all major podcast distributors under “The Lager Line.”

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