Los Angeles Lakers: Brook Lopez would re-sign for less if team is contender
By Nick Ziegler
The Los Angeles Lakers have their eyes on some big prizes this offseason. However, would Brook Lopez be willing to re-sign for less if they are a contender?
It was not an easy first season in Los Angeles for Brook Lopez after being traded by the Brooklyn Nets. After playing his entire career with the Nets, Lopez had to take a big step back with the Los Angeles Lakers this season.
After being the No.1 option for the Nets in recent years, Lopez wasn’t much of a factor for the Lakers for much of the season. Before the All-Star break, Lopez was averaging just 11.8 points per game. Compared to what he did with the Nets, this was a major drop in production for Lopez.
While it looked like Lopez was going to have a poor season, he really improved in the second half of the season. After the All-Star break, Lopez averaged 15.4 points per game and looked more like the player that we saw with the Nets.
Since Lopez had a strong second half of the season, he will likely be fairly sought after as a free agent. With the Lakers looking to big players for marquee free agents, signing one or two of them will be a priority.
Recently, Lopez spoke with Harrison Faigen of LakersNation.com about possibly re-signing with the Lakers for less if it means being on a title contender. Here’s what he had to say.
"“Yeah, I think so, obviously. If that were the situation and it looked like the team was an absolute contender than that’s hard to pass up,” Lopez said during his exit interview."
Considering how much more comfortable Lopez looked in the second half of the season, the Lakers would likely want to bring him back if the price was right. Since the priorities are going to be signing LeBron James and Paul George, the Lakers would have a need at the center position still.
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With his ability to stretch the floor and his willingness to take a step back as the primary option, Lopez would fit in nicely for the Lakers next season if they were a title contender. We will have to wait and see how the offseason shakes out for the Lakers, but Lopez should certainly be on the radar this offseason.