The Golden State Warriors landed the co-star for Stephen Curry they needed this past season, trading for Jimmy Butler at the Trade Deadline. While this front office is always up for big-game hunting and have the future draft assets to make a run at another star, early indications are that they plan to build around the pairing of Curry and Butler and instead seek out ideal supporting players this offseason.
The No. 1 item on their summer shopping list is a starting center, ideally one who can defend the paint and space the floor. Those players don’t grow on trees, of course, but there is one name who has been linked to Golden State that makes a lot of sense: Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Brook Lopez would be a great fit
The idea was floated by ESPN’s Bobby Marks recently when discussing the Warriors’ offseason, although Golden State fans have been locked into “Splash Mountain” for years as the perfect fit, a combination of Andrew Bogut’s defense and Marreese Speight’s offense, to pull a couple of dynasty names into the present.
Lopez just turned 37 years old and has certainly lost a step, but his 7’1″ frame and mammoth wingspan do not age, and his 3-point shot has stayed consistent. He played significant minutes this past season and held up well. If he was 30 years old he would be priced out of the Warriors’ market, but if they take a bet on Lopez aging slowly he could be the ideal two-way complement to the roster.
Having a shot blocker on the court defensively frees both Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler to leap passing lanes and rotate around, and it provides protection behind the play for the likes of Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody to defend aggressively on the perimeter. On offense, Lopez has spaced the court for the interior scoring of Giannis Antetokounmpo for seven seasons to championship levels of success, and he could do the same for Green and Butler.
The problem? Signing Lopez likely means saying goodbye to Kevon Looney.
Kevon Looney could be an offseason casualty
Both Brook Lopez and Kevon Looney are hitting free agency this summer, and it’s obvious that the Warriors will take Lopez over Looney if forced to make that choice. The organization obviously loves Looney, but his limitations on both offense and defense have pushed him down the big man pecking order; he is often out of the rotation entirely.
If the Warriors can free up enough financial flexibility to sign Lopez, they likely wouldn’t be able to offer Looney anything more than the minimum. And when you add in the roster spots for Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quentin Post, the need for Looney to be a fourth center goes down significantly, especially since Green will play significant minutes at the 5.
Looney remains an elite rebounder and switch defender and will be an attractive center for another team to add; perhaps that’s merely for the minimum, perhaps he can find a little bit of a market and make more than that. He has proven himself a player who elevates his game in the playoffs. Given the Warriors’ roster and financial restraints, however, he has a very real chance of leaving the only team he has ever played for.
Could the Milwaukee Bucks pivot around and sign him to help replace Lopez? He is a MIlwaukee native so that might appeal to him. Contending teams like the Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets would love signing him to a minimum deal to be their backup center. The Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Pelicans or San Antonio Spurs could sign him for slightly more to be a veteran backup.
The Warriors love Looney, so they may find a way to bring him back. Objectively, however, the addition of a significant player at center like Brook Lopez should spell the end of Looney’s time in the Bay Area. It would be a bittersweet sendoff for one of the key role players of the Steph Curry era.
