Los Angeles Lakers: Four free agents to avoid this summer
By Jason Reed
2. C Brook Lopez
Brook Lopez was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers last season after being traded to LA from the Brooklyn Nets for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov. Lopez served as a salary dump in this trade, allowing the Lakers to get rid of Mozgov’s contract and free up the cap space this summer.
While Lopez was initially acquired for that reason only, with a need at center, the Los Angeles Lakers could theoretically give Lopez another short-term deal to try to work out the position for the future.
He is already familiar with the team and would give the young core a familiar face to play around. And while those upsides are certainly there, the Lakers should still stay away from bringing Lopez back.
Quite frankly, the Los Angeles Lakers were a pretty bad defensive team last season in large part due to their lack of a rim protector down low. While Lopez is one of the best centers in the game in stretching the floor and scoring, he lacks that protection down low that was the team’s Achilles’ Heel last year.
The Lakers are just fine offensively and will not miss Lopez dearly, especially if the team can agree to terms with Julius Randle. Instead of bringing Lopez back in, their efforts should be focused more on someone who can help in areas of need.