Report: Nets frontrunners to sign Brook Lopez; seeking 3-year, $60-million deal
True to his word, center Brook Lopez opted out of the final year of his contract with the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, meaning he'll officially become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
That doesn't mean, however, he's planning to go anywhere. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Nets are strong frontrunners to sign Lopez once free agency begins.
Lopez is said to be seeking a 3-year deal worth $60 million, with the third season being a player option. Wojnarowski reports that Brooklyn will likely meet Lopez's price.
The price for Lopez makes sense considering that he declined his $16.7 million player option for 2015-16. Lopez has a long history of foot injuries, which is undoubtedly playing a factor in Lopez's desire for a long-term deal. General manager Billy King has already stressed that retaining Lopez will be a chief offseason priority for the franchise.
With several other high-profile bigs set to hit the free agent market - LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, and Kevin Love, to name a few - it's unclear what kind of competition Brooklyn will face in their attempt to secure their longtime center, who's spent his entire seven-year career with the Nets organization.
The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly also expressed interest, and their head coach, Jason Kidd, coached Lopez in Brooklyn in 2013-14. But they're likely to prioritize locking up restricted free agent Khris Middleton, and they just took a big bite out of their own cap space by taking on the $6.6 million owed to point guard Greivis Vasquez.
In short, early indications are that Lopez will be manning the pivot for the Nets again next season.