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What’s the deal?
Brook Lopez and the Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to a four-year, $52 million dollar deal. The stretch five was a highly coveted role player in this offseason’s free agent class. Although they’ve lost out on Brogdon to the Pacers, it seems that this Bucks squad is trying to re-sign as many of last years roster as possible so they can run it back in 2020.
What does Lopez bring to the team?
Lopez’s ability to stretch the floor at the center position is a unique skill in today’s NBA. Every team wants a stretch five, but Lopez was the only competent one on the market. His spacing of the floor is key to giving Giannis driving lanes and an additional shooter to kick to when he’s doubled.
One area of concern is the veteran’s age. Lopez is 31 years old. Although he doesn’t need much mobility to be effective, we may start to see Lopez’s skill degrade over the course of this contract.
What does this move mean for Milwaukee?
The Bucks clearly felt that they could have won it all last year. The re-signings of Lopez and Middleton show that the organization thinks this core could be a sustainable contender in the eastern conference.
Given that they have limited cap space left after this move, it’ll be interesting to see how they try to replace Brogdon’s minutes. Although Pat Connaughton had a good year and Divincenzo showed some promise, this Bucks squad is starting to look thin at shooting guard.
How would you grade this contract?
Although a shorter deal may have been more ideal for the Bucks, this is a great signing for the reigning one-seed in the east. Although Brogdon may have been the better player, Lopez would have been much harder, if not impossible to replace. Coming off a great season, the Bucks re-signing of Lopez gets a A-.
Final thoughts
Milwaukee has a lot of work left to do this offseason. Although the main core has now been mostly restored, they still need to fill out the bench with lots of shooting to maximize Antetokounmpo. Locking down Lopez is a great start.