The New York Knicks can scratch one center off of their targets list this offseason.
As Eric Nehm of The Athletic reported on Friday, July 26, Milwaukee Bucks star Brook Lopez is valued by his current franchise so much that their general manager Jon Horst comfortably declared that the team won’t be parting ways with him anytime soon (h/t Jeremy Brener of New York Knicks on SI):
“First of all, rumors and chatter are what makes the league so interesting and so fun, so people are always going to speculate and talk about it. And I typically don’t talk about any of this stuff with the media, but I will say, because Brook is so core to who we are, we have zero intentions of trading Brook,” Horst said.
Knicks will miss out on a great two-way center recently taken off the trade rumor mill
Lopez would have been a strong option for the Knicks to consider offering a trade package for this summer. The former 2013 All-Star brings a great many things to the basketball floor that a team could want out of their big man. The 7-foot-1 center is an elite defender and rim protector, proven by his second-place finish in the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year award race and the 2.4 blocks per game he recorded in 2023-24, which ranked second in the Association.
Offensively, Lopez can space the floor and shoot with incredible range for his size, having nailed 1.9 threes last season on 5.1 attempts per contest. He also has a natural feel for playing on the block and a soft touch around the rim.
Though he is a poor rebounder for his size and would likely cause the Knicks to regress on the offensive glass with a 5.4 percent OREB percentage that comes in at nine percent less than former Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein’s clip from the previous campaign, the Stanford product would have made life hell for opposing defenses as a pick-and-roll partner for All-Star Jalen Brunson.
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Lopez will be looked at to help a healthy Bucks team strive for a title in 2024-25
No matter, the Bucks are happy with the production Lopez gives them and want to run things back in 2024-25 with a healthy roster in hopes of winning the East and their second title in the last five years. The Bucks saw three-time All-Star Khris Middleton miss 27 games last season due to an ankle sprain and play under 30 minutes a night for the second straight year, though he played well in the first round of the playoffs, while former two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo missed the entire first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs which the Bucks lost 4-2 to the Indiana Pacers due to a calf strain.
Lopez held down the fort for Milwaukee as Damian Lillard and Middleton’s de facto No. 3 option on offense with averages of 17.7 PPG on 58.7 percent shooting from the field and 43.5 percent connection from outside. Though the Bucks were sent home early, his output showed that he can be among the best No. 4 options in the league in the next go around the NBA sun. The Knicks will have to look elsewhere for a potential upgrade at center as the summer wears on.
