Brooklyn Nets Rumors: Should Nets Trade Brook Lopez?
Brooklyn Nets Rumors: Is It Time For Brook Lopez to be Traded?
You can’t spell Brooklyn without Brook (Lopez).
Other than being the longest tenured member of the Brooklyn Nets, center Brook Lopez has made notable impact throughout his career with the Nets that we cannot simply ignore. In an era where there are only a handful of NBA centers that make an impact on games, it is very hard for a team to find one without breaking the bank.
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Lopez signed his new contract a few summers ago, for about $60 million. This deal will expire this summer or next summer (depending on what he does with his player option) and Nets GM Billy King is actively shopping him. The large luxury tax burdening the franchise is almost forcing their hand to shed the contracts of either Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and/or Lopez.
Only one season after willingly opening their wallets and not caring about the tax, the front office is now looking to make some moves.
The breakdown of the Nets comes at a “coincidental” time, with the team reportedly being up for sale. What kind of potential owner would want to buy an under-performing team with the highest luxury tax in the NBA? By trading a large contract and lowering the tax amount, the Nets seem to be making themselves more appealing to buyers. Of course, the only trading piece that seems plausible is Lopez.
Williams also has many lingering injuries, and has not been performing at the max-contract level when healthy. Johnson, though performing well, may not be worth the amount of money he is making. The other big contract, Lopez, is almost a bargain with his production if he can stay on the court.
So why trade him if he’s this good? Health.
When healthy, Lopez is one of the top five centers in the NBA. Arguably, he is the best offensive center in the league. Capable of scoring 25 points on any given night, Lopez is an attractive trade chip when healthy. Playoff contenders would want a dominant center who can play down low, and is a threat offensively.
The first few years of his career were very promising. He played all 82 games in each of the first three years of his career. However, hampered by foot issues, he was never able to reach that amount of games again, and the closest he got was 74 games in 2012-13. This season has been no different, as he has already missed 10 games and has played limited minutes in the games that he has appeared in. The slight compatibility issues with rising player Mason Plumlee has left Brook as the odd man out in some games. Regardless, he is still an integral part of the bench and performs when his number is called.
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But the question remains; should the Nets trade Lopez? I would vote no, but if the Nets were going to trade him, they should get back fair value, instead of just trading him as a salary dump. The reported trade for Jeremy Lamb and Kendrick Perkins is not fair value. When the Denver Nuggets received two number one draft picks for Timofey Mozgov, the Nets can definitely do better than Perkins and Lamb. Lopez is certainly a better player than Mozgov when not dealing with injuries. Lopez at his highest value, should at least result in one (or more) first round picks.
As fans, there’s not much we can do except hope that the Nets do not settle for less and trade Lopez for table scraps. He is a great NBA center when healthy, and sometimes in life, we have to take a leap of faith and trust that he can stay healthy. Big men and foot problems are serious concerns, but what makes us think that Brook cannot be an exception to “the rule”?
Good centers in this day and age are hard to find, so when you have two good ones, why trade either? Use them to win like in the old days. Lopez is a very good player and can provide a spark at any time, whether starting or off the bench.
"After beating the Wizards last Friday, “I like it here,” Lopez said to Michael Lee of the Washington Post. “I’ve been here my whole career. I’m kind of partial to it now.”"
Even after enduring the 12-70 season in 2009-10, Lopez still displays his desire to be a Net. Most other players would undoubtedly bolt to a contender when they hit free agency without having won, yet Lopez elected to stay. Loyalty speaks volumes.
There’s a famous saying that “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone”
There’s also the fact that you can’t spell Brooklyn without “Brook”.