{"id":61999,"date":"2025-05-17T08:46:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T08:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999"},"modified":"2025-05-17T08:46:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T08:46:57","slug":"warriors-linked-to-23-million-center-one-name-to-keep-an-eye-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999","title":{"rendered":"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: &#8216;One Name to Keep an Eye On&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2215157263-e1747427178138.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2215157263-e1747427178138.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2215157263-e1747427178138.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2215157263-e1747427178138.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: 'One Name to Keep an Eye On'\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Draymond Green and Quinten Post failed to lift the Golden State Warriors past the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>While Stephen Curry\u2018s hamstring injury hastened the Golden State Warriors\u2018 playoff exit, their lack of size also made them vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>After barely surviving the Houston Rockets\u2018 two-big lineup in the first round, the Warriors did not stand a chance against the bigger and better Minnesota Timberwolves team in the second round.<\/p>\n<p>Julius Randle threw his weight around. Rudy Gobert stood tall. The imposing Minnesota frontcourt dominated Draymond Green and the Warriors\u2019 small frontcourt.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of Green, Golden State coach Steve Kerr relied on the undersized Kevon Looney and the inexperienced duo of Trayce Jackson-Davis and rookie Quinten Post.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the center position is the Warriors\u2019 top priority, according to\u00a0ESPN\u2019s front office insider Bobby Marks, who singled out one veteran free-agent center whom they could target in free agency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the one name to keep an eye on regarding that center position is Brook Lopez,\u201d Marks said on \u201cNBA Today\u201d on Thursday. \u201cStanford graduate. He makes his home in Fresno [California]. What is the number on a Brook Lopez-type contract if you can get him on a one-year flyer here to patch up that center position because the center market is thin?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you look at Myles Turner, you\u2019re probably not going to afford him. The next best guy out there is Brook Lopez.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Brook Lopez\u2019s Potential Fit With Warriors<\/h2>\n<p>The 7-foot-1 Lopez earned $23 million this past season. He\u2019s turning 37 next season but he is still a serviceable big man.<\/p>\n<p>The longtime Milwaukee Bucks center averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.9 blocks across 80 games this past season. A 3-and-D center, Lopez fits the Warriors style of play. He shot 37.3% from the 3-point line and hasn\u2019t shot below 36% over the last four seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, he also has a championship pedigree as the defensive anchor of the Bucks title team in 2021.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5359500\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1472893495-e1747427044865.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: 'One Name to Keep an Eye On'\" width=\"782\" height=\"528\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5359500\" data-lazy-load=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5359500\">Getty Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks is a name to keep an eye on for the Golden State Warriors, ESPN\u2019s Bobby Marks said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>If they can get Lopez, Green can slide back to power forward, his natural position. A Lopez-Green frontcourt tandem can make the Warriors\u2019 defense \u2014 the best in the NBA since Jimmy Butler\u2018s arrival at the trade deadline \u2014 even more formidable.<\/p>\n<p>Lopez is at his best in drop coverage, while Green is better suited as weakside, roaming defender as opposed to being the backline of defense, a role he played this past season which made him vulnerable to bigger centers.<\/p>\n<p>Lopez headlines a thin free-agent center class this summer that also include Atlanta\u2019s\u00a0Clint Capela, Minnesota\u2019s\u00a0Naz Reid (player option) and Boston\u2019s\u00a0Al Horford.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Jonathan Kuminga is Warriors\u2019 Swing Piece<\/h2>\n<p>The Warriors\u2019 financial ability to add someone like Lopez or any starting-caliber center will depend on what they do with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Kuminga contract will determine as far as what flexibility they have,\u201d Marks said. \u201cWill they have that non-tax mid-level exception here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his ESPN offseason preview for the Warriors, Marks explained that Golden State is $17.5 million below the luxury tax without Kuminga on the roster, meaning if they let him walk.<\/p>\n<p>That will open up their $14.1 million non-tax midlevel exception which could be enough to land Lopez.<\/p>\n<p>But the Warriors are expected to extend Kuminga his $7.9 million qualifying offer, according to The Athletic, which will make him a restricted free agent in July to have leverage. They can match any offer sheet Kuminga might received from another team or work with him in a sign-and-trade to get a player, ideally a center, back.<\/p>\n<p>Alder Almo is a basketball journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has more than 15 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Explore the challenges faced by the Warriors in the playoffs and their urgent need for a strong center to enhance the team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":62000,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: &#039;One Name to Keep an Eye On&#039; - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: &#039;One Name to Keep an Eye On&#039; - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore the challenges faced by the Warriors in the playoffs and their urgent need for a strong center to enhance the team.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-17T08:46:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-17T08:46:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-1-80.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999\",\"name\":\"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: 'One Name to Keep an Eye On' - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-1-80.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-17T08:46:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-17T08:46:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-1-80.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-1-80.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: &#8216;One Name to Keep an Eye On&#8217;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"News 365\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\",\"name\":\"MrLuu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrLuu\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: 'One Name to Keep an Eye On' - News 365","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: 'One Name to Keep an Eye On' - News 365","og_description":"Explore the challenges faced by the Warriors in the playoffs and their urgent need for a strong center to enhance the team.","og_url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999","og_site_name":"News 365","article_published_time":"2025-05-17T08:46:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-17T08:46:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-1-80.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MrLuu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrLuu","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999","name":"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: 'One Name to Keep an Eye On' - News 365","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-1-80.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-17T08:46:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-17T08:46:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-1-80.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-1-80.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=61999#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Warriors Linked to $23 Million Center: &#8216;One Name to Keep an Eye On&#8217;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/","name":"News 365","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6","name":"MrLuu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrLuu"},"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62001,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61999\/revisions\/62001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}