The Milwaukee Bucks have the best record in the NBA and Brook Lopez has played a huge factor in achieving that record. Brook is currently 34 years old and in his 15th season in the NBA. This is the fifth season Brook has spent in Milwaukee and he’s having arguably his best NBA season. However, will the Milwaukee Bucks be able to afford Lopez past 2023 or will another team offer him a contract he can’t refuse?
Brook Lopez current contract
Brook Lopez is on the final year of his four contract that paid him $52 million. This season, Lopez is earning $13.9 million and with the way he’s playing, probably underpaid. The Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner is having an exceptional season and arguably the best season of his career all while coming off back surgery last season.
What type of contract would Brook Lopez be looking at?
Brook Lopez’s value is hard to determine because he’s not your prototypical center. Lopez’s ability to step behind the arc and knock down shots but also protect the rim is unmatched in today’s NBA. Two players who average roughly the same number of minutes and points per game are Rudy Gobert and Nikola Vucevic. Gobert is 30 years old making $38 million this season while Vucevic is 32 years old and making $22 million this season. Offensively Vucevic and Lopez’s game are similar and both big men are set for unrestricted free agency this summer.
It’s important to note that the Milwaukee Bucks have a lot of work to do next season. As of now, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Bobby Portis, Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton and MarJon Beauchamp are the only Bucks under contract for 2024. Khris Middleton has a player option for $40 million next season. Depending on how the remainder of 2023 goes, Khris could opt out and look to sign an extension or go elsewhere and try to secure a larger contract. Should Milwaukee be crowned champions again, you’d like to see the organization run it back and look to get younger with the players on expiring contracts.
Brook Lopez could make a wild amount of money this summer, but he'll probably take a nice deal from the Bucks and keep it rolling along there.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) March 20, 2023
If the above tweet is true, the ideal contract the Milwaukee Bucks would offer Brook Lopez would be a 2-year deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $15-17 million per year. The second year of Lopez deal would likely be a player option. Given Lopez’s age, it would be hard to offer him much more, especially with the number of players Milwaukee will have to resign next season. This offer would show Milwaukee values Lopez and would reward him if he indeed secures the Defensive Player of the Year.
How do the Bucks compare to the rest of the league?
The Milwaukee Bucks currently rank number 22 of 30 in terms of salary cap spent on the center position. Lopez and Meyers Leonard round out the two true centers on the current roster. The two combined will have been paid $14.4 million at the conclusion of the season. Of the teams spending less money on the position, only the Brooklyn Nets currently hold a playoff spot. Milwaukee will likely be able to offer Lopez a couple million more than he’s currently making, allowing the team to spend more on younger wings.
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