Brook Lopez is the Lakers’ missing piece of the NBA title picture amid free agent rumors.Megan Briggs/Getty Images
In the pursuit of a 17th NBA Championship, the Los Angeles Lakers are interested in reuniting with center Brook Lopez according to Dan McMenamin of ESPN.
Bringing Lopez on-board would strap the Lakers for cash, but he would represent the missing piece for a Laker’s team that was clearly a player away from realistically contending against the powerhouse Denver Nuggets in this year’s Western Conference Finals.
Lopez is coming off a deceptively great year in which he was the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year behind Jaren Jackson Jr., averaged 6.7 rebounds per game, tallied 2.5 blocks per game, and shot a career-best 37.4 percent from beyond the arc.
He played in 78 games, averaged 15.9 points and his 53.1 free throw percentage was his best since 2013-14.
At 35, he was still an excellent player for Milwaukee so it is no wonder the Lakers would be interested in bringing him back to the team for the first time since his one-year stint in 2017-18.
Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
Just went through my phone and found this practice footage with a Brook Lopez dish to Alex Caruso… Look at this squad: Lonzo, Brewer, Randle, Ingram, KCP, Nance Jr, Caruso, Lopez… Oh how things have changed. #Lakers pic.twitter.com/ha4nLVhmts
Lopez is a more traditional center that Anthony Davis, who would much rather play the power forward position. Signing him pushes Davis there, sends LeBron James to small forward and allow Rui Hachimura to spark the offense coming off the bench, and with Dennis Schröder and Austin Reaves, would provide Los Angeles one of the better starting five in the conference.
Especially if Lopez can replicate the year he had in 2022-23.
Davis would receive a reprieve from the more physical demands that come with playing center in the NBA and, potentially, make him more available for the team throughout the season than he was this past season, when he was only on the floor for 56 games.
Of course, we have seen the Lakers take risks on older players to disastrous results, as the last two seasons of ball in the City of Angels can attest to, but Lopez has shown few signs of regression and would likely provide a defensive boost to a team that allowed 52.8 points in the paint to opposing teams.
Does he immediately help the Lakers leapfrog Denver as the preeminent favorite to win the Larry O’Brien trophy come next June?
No, but he is a piece that would allow things to open up, for players to fill more natural roles and help the Lakers look like the Lakers again rather than a team still trying to figure itself out deep into the postseason.
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