In the NBA it is tough to win a championship without a quality big man as you simply cannot coach size. And most teams that have gone on to raise the Larry O’Brien Trophy as NBA Champions have had a player checking in at 6’9″ or taller play an integral part in their success. Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez doesn’t have the footwork of Hakeem Olajuwon, the power of Shaquille O’Neal, the tenacity of Moses Malone, or the hook shot of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but he is still a viable player. Lopez has a player option for next season of $16.7 million which he is more than likely going to walk away from this summer and become a free agent. The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly interested in Lopez’s services, but would the Nets really allow him to leave Brooklyn?
Brooklyn Nets
In his first season as Nets head coach, Lionel Hollins wasn’t an overwhelming fan of Lopez. Hollins felt that Lopez wasn’t tough enough and aggressive enough at times which led the head coach to benching the 7-footer. The Nets even put Lopez on the trading block and he appeared to be a goner until a three-team deal involving the Oklahoma City Thunder and Charlotte Hornets fell through. Lopez never complained about the benching or trade rumors and instead he let his play do the talking as he became vital in helping the Nets obtain the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference this past spring. And for the season Lopez averaged 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds for a Nets team that needed every bit of it.
But it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the Nets allowed Lopez to leave Brooklyn as they have been a poorly constructed franchise for the majority of their existence. This is the same franchise that was broke when they joined the NBA in 1976 and thus they were forced to sell Julius Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers. After that the Nets were an afterthought in the NBA until they acquired point guard Jason Kidd in 2001 and he led them to their only two Eastern Conference Championships in 2002 and 2003. The Nets attempted to rekindle that magic in 2011 when they acquired point guard Deron Williams from the Utah Jazz. But all that the Nets have gotten out of Williams is an overpaid prima donna who has become a lightning rod for criticism in the New York media. The Nets bloated payroll is a luxury tax nightmare as even without Lopez on their roster for next season, they would still be over the NBA’s salary cap.
When Mikhail Prokohrov purchased the Nets in 2010 with an impending move to Brooklyn in 2012, he tried to have an instant winner which has blown up in his face immensely as money alone and bloated contracts cannot win a championship. But allowing Lopez to leave Brooklyn wouldn’t make things any easier for the Nets going forward.
The Nets have allowed themselves to get caught up in the New York media shuffle as they’ve tried for the quick fix as opposed to building a stable and consistent contender and in the process they’ve overestimated Lopez’s skill set on the basketball court. Lopez is not going to average 25 points and 15 rebounds per game, but there are not too many players currently in the NBA that can put up those numbers of a nightly basis. And even though Lopez is not the most athletic center in the NBA, he has still averaged 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds for his career which most teams would gladly take.
One man’s trash could be another’s fortune and if Lopez were to join the Bucks, he would once again be under the guidance of Kidd as his head coach as the former point guard coached him in Brooklyn for one year. If Lopez were to join the Bucks, he would also be a part of a team that has a young nucleus and they have the look and the feel of a team that is ready to do some damage in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee is also one of the smaller media markets in the NBA and it would be a place where Lopez wouldn’t have any added pressure as he would be removed from the spotlight of the New York media and his numbers could improve there.
Nets general manager Billy King must find a way to pool all of his resources together in order to keep Lopez in Brooklyn this summer. The Nets have previously tried build a team around Williams and it hasn’t worked. Point guards in the NBA are a dime a dozen, whereas 7-footers such as Lopez that can score don’t come around the bend that often. Williams is due $21 million next season and there is an early termination option on his deal for the 2016-2017 NBA season. The Nets don’t intend to buy Williams out, but it is definitely time to move on from him while keeping their options open on Lopez, or it will be the same phrase that has become too familiar with their franchise which is starting over.
Source: Basketball-reference.com
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