Los Angeles Lakers: Brook Lopez named realistic player for Trail Blazers
By Nick Ziegler
Bleacher Report recently named Brook Lopez of the Los Angeles Lakers as a realistic option for the Portland Trail Blazers in free agency.
The Los Angeles Lakers made a big deal prior to the NBA Draft last year with the Brooklyn Nets. As the front office tried to get rid of a poor contract of Timofey Mozgov, they had to pair him with a former Top-5 pick in D’Angelo Russell.
This moved caused quite the stir early on, but the Lakers ended up getting a pretty good haul considering they were dumping salary. In exchange for Russell and Mozgov, the Lakers received Brook Lopez and the 27th overall pick, which ended up being Kyle Kuzma.
With the Nets, Lopez was a great scorer and the focal point of the offense. However, his transition to Los Angeles didn’t go that smoothly. In a different system, Lopez looked very out of sorts at times, and was nowhere near the 20-point per game scorer we saw with the Nets.
However, in the second half of the season, Lopez looked more comfortable in the Lakers offense and played quite well for Los Angeles down the stretch.
Recently, Bleacher Report named Lopez as a realistic dream free agent for the Portland Trail Blazers. Here’s what they had to say.
"Lopez isn’t the sexiest name, but his game is intriguing. He’s one of only four 7-footers to splash 100-plus threes each of the past two seasons. His unique ability to space the floor from the 5 spot should open more attack lanes for Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, perhaps jolting the club’s 16th-ranked offense near or even into the top 10."
Even though Portland has been a very successful team in the Western Conference the past few seasons, they have had a lot of issues at the center position. They hoped that Jusuf Nurkic was the answer, however, he had a down season for them last year.
With Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, the Trail Blazers have one of the best backcourts in the NBA. Adding a center at an affordable price would go a long ways toward helping them get over the hump.
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If Lopez was able to perform like he did in the second half of the season for the Lakers, he would be a very solid addition for Portland. As a talented scoring center, Lopez should have multiple suitors as a free agent this offseason.