End of an Era for the Bucks: Brook Lopez on to Los Angeles.

A tremendous 7-year stint in Milwaukee came to an end yesterday, with Brook Lopez leaving for the Clippers on a 2 year, $18 million dollar deal.

Lopez had a TON of great moments with the Bucks, but I think the above video was his greatest. Simply put: The Bucks don’t win a championship in 2021 without Splash Mountain. And in that particular game, coming off of the Giannis injury in Game 4 of the ECF, and not knowing what his status was moving forward, Brook stepped into the void with a DOMINANT performance in Game 5. 33 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, and established a ‘we will not go quietly into the night’ tone very early.

A few other things on Lopez in no particular order:

• He is the greatest free agent signing in franchise history. Especially when you consider they got him on a 1 year, $3 million dollar deal before the 2018-19 season. At that point we thought his career was winding down, but he was revitalized in Milwaukee. He was the anchor of the defense for much of his time with the Bucks, finishes 2nd all time in franchise history in blocks, made two All Defense teams and finished 2nd in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2023.
• He was without question one of the most thoughtful and articulate players I ever ‘covered’ while working in radio. As my responsibilities expanded a year ago, and putting together daily sportscasts became a part of my job, I was always delighted when the Bucks would post audio from Brook pre or post game. He always gave you insight that was easy to understand in 15-20 second bites. Basically a radio dream.
• He should get his jersey retired at some point down the road. Obviously Giannis and Khris will at some point, I think Jrue will too, and you can build a pretty convincing case for Brook.
• Unfortunately, it was time. The last two postseasons in particular, he was becoming a liability against quick teams like the Pacers. To the point where Doc Rivers, who NEVER benches a trusted veteran, benched Brook in the last few games of the playoffs. I think he’ll probably be fine as a backup center in LA, but the Bucks didn’t have a spot for a backup center making 8-10 million next season.

Other notes from an active day on Monday:

• I’m surprised the Kevin Porter Jr. came back on the deal that he did. I thought he’d get more than 2 years, $11 million. For a guy who is still only 25 years old, and for how well he fit in after the deadline last year, this was a no-brainer. He averaged almost 12 points per game on 49%/40% shooting splits, and he was a key part of the 4th quarter closing lineup at the end of the season. I like him defensively as well, he needs to gamble a little less, but he was a menace in that zone defense they deployed late in the year.
• I’m even MORE surprised that Gary Trent Jr. is back at the price they got him at. I assumed he was priority #1 in the offseason given how strong he was after a slow start, and then how much of a playoff riser he turned into (despite the braindead turnovers late in Game 5). It felt like he was going to get 8-10 million on the open market given that he is still only 26 years old. But they got him on a 2 year deal with $7.5 million TOTAL?? The second year of the deal is a player option, so maybe he’s betting on himself having a big year this year and then opting out at the end of the season to hit the open market next offseason where more teams will have more money? But this is an absolute STEAL at that number.
• Taurean Prince is also back on a 2 year, $7.1 million dollar deal. This was a head scratcher for me initially, but the more I think about it, it’s probably fine. This contract is essentially the veteran’s minimum. He was a playoff flop, but he did play in 80 regular season games and shot a career best 44% from distance (top 5 in the league). I look at this like the Brewers signing a bottom of the rotation starter. You need guys to get you through the regular season, but they aren’t guys your starting in the playoffs (CC: Doc Rivers).

Now because they got VERY affordable deals on KPJ, Gary Trent, and Bobby Portis, they still have their entire mid-level exception to spend (around $14 million) on someone. And they’d still be under the second apron with that move. All in all I’d say yesterday was a positive day for Jon Horst.

PS: I know the Debbie Downer’s on Twitter last night were lamenting, ‘running it back’ with a 48-win team from last season that didn’t make it out of the first round. Look, if there were ever a season to, ‘run it back,’ it might be next season. The East is DECIMATED with injuries and the Bucks are going to have the best player in the conference. Let’s see what they do with this MLE and maybe they can still swing a trade. But I don’t mind having some consistency with the lineup heading into a season where nobody feels like a heavyweight in the conference.