Brooklyn Nets were once at a point that they were ready to completely move anybody and anyone with a big contract number. That was due partly to the fact that the team is up for sale and they wanted the new owner to be able to come in with a clean slate and some free agency money to play with. Brook Lopez was one guy that was reported as possible players that would move before the trade deadline in February. Yet, here we sit, a week away from the NBA Playoffs and the Nets only made one significant move. They sent Kevin Garnett to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Thaddeus Young.
Lopez, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson have the 3 of the biggest contracts on the team, yet none of them were moved. Lopez was talked about the most possibly getting moved at the deadline to a couple of teams with some deals that might have actually improved the Nets. The one deal that actually had some traction was the talks about Lopez almost going to the Oklahoma City Thunder but the deal fell through.
The decision for Lopez to accept his player option this summer comes up, it appears the Nets might be interested in keeping him around beyond next year.
Following from Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski who talked to Joe Bengino and Evan Roberts on WFAN.
“The interesting thing for Lopez if he wait till 2016, he’d be one of those players who’d be able to get a no-trade clause in his deal, I believe. And that might be important to him. I don’t know how much of a priority that is. To have some degree of control, considering how much he’s been involved in trade talks and how close he’s come several times to being moved.
“The decision for him and his agents this summer is do we do a get-some-security If he opts in for next year, he’d get $16.7 million, what I’ve been told is that his extension number might be in that $13 – $14 million range if he’s healthy and continues to check out medically. His production’s been excellent this year. He could sign an extension this year, with the Nets or elsewhere or he could roll the dice and go and play more year and go into free agency next year (2016). It’s a decision that needs to be made. I know it hasn’t been fully addressed yet.”
“I think the fact that they didn’t trade him tells you they would be aggressive. I think if they felt they weren’t going to commit to him financially long-term, I think they would have moved him. And because they know they are at the risk of losing him, if he opts out and can walk, that tells me the Nets are committed to trying to keep him based on the fact they that turned, walked away from a couple of different deals at the deadline.”
The Nets currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference, 2 games behind the sixth seeded Milwaukee Bucks and one game ahead of the eighth seeded Boston Celtics. Brooklyn was the one team many people didn’t believe in after the All-Star break considering the plethora of feel-good stories in the East with the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. Brook Lopez has been the driving force behind the Nets run the last 2 weeks leading Brooklyn to some big wins they weren’t supposed to have.
Lopez continues to solidify his case as a candidate for the Nets to want to keep around, especially after he won back-to-back NBA Player of the Week awards, the only player in the NBA to do so this year. Ok, that might not be much to validate a max contract but I can’t imagine a scenario where Lopez doesn’t accept a $16.7 million player option. If, for some horrible reason, he does get hurt again, he has that contract. Plus, if he does play well, the Nets can continue to anoint him the new king of Brooklyn and continue to possibly build a team with him involved but not as the main centerpiece.
