Brook Lopez

[bondom34]

Seems thread worthy at this point.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/555952341380124672[/tweet]

Seems it would be Perk/Lamb/Jerrett out.

I'm good with it.

Some info on Lopez:

26 years old, paid 15.7 mil this year and 16.7 next. Some injury concerns unfortunately, but this is pretty low price wise.

Averaging 15/6 and 1.6 blocks in 25ish minutes per game, down minutes from last year.

Ranks 6th in the league in Nylon Calculus Rim Protection points saved per 36:
http://nyloncalculus.com/stats/rim-protection/

RPM is -1.63, but last season was at 2.21, 1.78 DRPM 0.43 ORPM for last season. Either way, its an upgrade.

.102 WS/48, -2.9 OBPM, -0.1 DBPM.

I like it if its this deal, I'd be pretty darn happy.

[spearsy23]

Honestly, I just want it to happen so that I can rub it in bravenewworld's face that Lamb has trade value.

[bondom34]

Honestly, I just want it to happen so that I can rub it in bravenewworld's face that Lamb has trade value.

Don't rub that in his face!

Spoiler:

Rub it in that Perk got traded .

[spearsy23]

I don't really see this team being a contender this year no matter what we do, but if Lopez can get relatively healthy even, he is shooting 46% on jumpshots. Imagine the room at the rim when it's Russ/Morrow/KD/Serge/Lopez. There's nowhere to bring help from. Also, we've always had fantastic ft% teams and replacing Perk/Adams with Lopez would be flat out insane. Huge shake-ups this late in the season rarely set up deep playoff runs, but it could have us looking good next year.

[bondom34]

Yeah, this season's all but over to me, but for next year its possibly huge. A fringe all star caliber big to replace Perk. He can post, shoot, not fumble the ball (we'll have the memories Perk), protect the rim, etc. The injuries scare me, but next season was always supposed to be "the year" for the front office I'd say. And they give up nothing to get him.

[spearsy23]

Another important factor is the big contract being a good thing. After Perk we'll have no expendable players that are making enough to match salaries, obviously Serge/KD/Russ aren't going anywhere so without a large contract (that we all assume we won't be giving Reggie), we're stuck trying to cobble together enough guys salary wise to upgrade positions.

[spearsy23]

Also, is it just me or does it seem like these leaked trades rarely happen?

[bondom34]

Normally yeah, but this seems very far along. LIke it wasn't leaked until pretty late.

[KD35Brah]

I just hope Brooks isn't dumb enough to start him or play him more than 20mpg. (if he does come here)

He should definitely come off the bench.

[spearsy23]

I just hope Brooks isn't dumb enough to start him or play him more than 20mpg. (if he does come here)

He should definitely come off the bench.

He should get at least half the minutes at center even if he doesn't start. Our bench lacks any consistent scoring punch, so I'd be good with having him in the 2nd unit, but he still is better than Adams when healthy.

[spearsy23]

Supposedly the Nets are looking for a team to flip Perkins to and that's the only hold-up. If Kendrick Perkins kills this deal it's going to be extremely frustrating.

[KD35Brah]

I just hope Brooks isn't dumb enough to start him or play him more than 20mpg. (if he does come here)

He should definitely come off the bench.

He should get at least half the minutes at center even if he doesn't start. Our bench lacks any consistent scoring punch, so I'd be good with having him in the 2nd unit, but he still is better than Adams when healthy.

Of course he's better than Adams. It's the injury concerns that cause me to want him to only play 20mpg.

[spearsy23]

I just hope Brooks isn't dumb enough to start him or play him more than 20mpg. (if he does come here)

He should definitely come off the bench.

He should get at least half the minutes at center even if he doesn't start. Our bench lacks any consistent scoring punch, so I'd be good with having him in the 2nd unit, but he still is better than Adams when healthy.

Of course he's better than Adams. It's the injury concerns that cause me to want him to only play 20mpg.

You can't give him thirty minutes per night, but the difference between 20 and 24 is pretty negligible. An extra 60 seconds per quarter, especially if he gets those minutes playing with the starters, could yield a pretty positive result. He has to justify 15 million dollars, so we'd have to play him and at some point not worry about him breaking down. We're fighting for the playoffs still, so I'd take the risk with the extra minutes.

[Kizz Fastfists]

I'd use Lopez as the scoring punch for the second unit. I would move Waiters or Morrow into the starting lineup. Send Roberson down to the D-League so he can learn to take, and make, a jump shot. A starting unit of Russ, Morrow, KD, Ibaka and Adams would be very good and a bench of Lopez, Reggie, Waiters and PJ3 would make for a very strong rotation. Rather you would play Adams or Lopez in crunch time would be situational.

[spearsy23]

I'd use Lopez as the scoring punch for the second unit. I would move Waiters or Morrow into the starting lineup. Send Roberson down to the D-League so he can learn to take, and make, a jump shot. A starting unit of Russ, Morrow, KD, Ibaka and Adams would be very good and a bench of Lopez, Reggie, Waiters and PJ3 would make for a very strong rotation. Rather you would play Adams or Lopez in crunch time would be situational.

Waiters playing with the starters could be really bad, unfortunately Waiters playing with Reggie can also be really bad... Ugh, it would be nice if one of them would accept their limitations.

[Kizz Fastfists]

I'd prefer to start Morrow, but I figure Brooks would go Waiters if he had to choose between the two. Not that I expect a change from Roberson, who needs to be in the D-League learning to shoot without hesitation and developing confidence. If Waiters was starting with Russ, Ibaka and KD he might be able to accept some of his limitations more as he would be out there with 3 clearly better players. If you have Reggie and Waiters playing with Lopez then Lopez becomes the best player on the court. You just have to make it clear to Reggie that his first look is inside to Lopez and the goal is to run the offense through Lopez giving Reggie and Waiters better looks. Despite shooting 25% from 3 this year Waiters is shooting 36% from the corner. So if he spots up and his man goes to help on Lopez he could still get his shots, but they would be higher quality looks and would, in theory, improve his efficiency from terrible to solid.

[Balkman32]

Lets be real. Here is the line up moving forward after the Thunder trade Perk, Lamb, and Jerrett for Lopez.

Lopez/ Adams
Ibaka/ Combo (of Collison/ PJ3/ McGary depending on who they are playing)
Durant/ Morrow
Roberson/ Waiters
Westbrook/ Jackson

This team in now lethal. They will make the playoffs and probably be the scariest 7th or 8th seed to ever.

[jayu70]

Do you guys have any idea about Lopez's game?
He doesn't play defense or rebound for a 7'-0". He's an effective post player who really won't see the ball with KD and Russ dominating the ball. He doesn't run the floor well either. And trust me, he will be injured at some point.

He might be best suited coming off the bench to anchor the offense.

[Balkman32]

Sources: Thunder in serious discussions to acquire Brook Lopez from Nets

[Flip Murray]

I'll take the Lamb, medium rare with fries and a sweet tea. Thanks