Marc Stein @ESPNSteinLine Source close to process says Portland & Charlotte have indeed told Brook Lopez they're ready to sign him today to four-year max offer sheet
Missed the topic by 1 minute. Drat! You guys don't like him? He seems a little injury prone. Havent the Blazers had enough of that?
Marc Stein @ESPNSteinLine This is why Nets MUST move today. They either have to complete sign-and-trade for Howard with Lopez going to ORL or sign Lopez to keep him
More offensively skilled than Hibbert, but far worse defensively and rebounding-wise. Good bigman, but injury issues and underwhelming rebounding scare the shit outta me. Definitely worth more of a McGee ($10M/yr) contract than a max. I see what Olshey is doing though. If Lopez can stay healthy and continue to develop, he could potentially be a better player than Hibbert. With our capspace and current roster situation, we're going to have to overpay to get people here, and if we are keeping Batum, in the end it won't really matter. Now if we are trying to S&T Batum, that is a different story.
I was going to start a thread on this today (stupid work always getting in my way!)... the Blazers should sign him to a max offer sheet. He's a better player than Hibbert, especially offensively, and he's a year and a half younger. Because he's been injured, there's a slim chance that NJ might let him go. He's a 24 year old (not 25 until April) center who's very very skilled and productive. That's a max player to me. The reality, of course, is that the Nets would never let him walk. He's a huge piece of their future--either manning the center spot or as a key trade element for Howard. The only downside for Portland is that they tie up cap space for a few days, but... is that really a problem? Ed O.
If you trade LMA later, develop Leonard, this can work in the long-term as well. FWIW, Lopez has played and can play PF. One coach called him a 7'2" PF, a player too.
NJ matches this. Their owner doesn't care - he has tons of money. Plus, they were reporting earlier today that NJ and Lopez were close to a max deal as it was.
Yeah, this does seem like a giant waste of time. BK had no problem taking on Joe Johnson, I think they match this easily.
Oh well, worth a shot. If we sign him though, I think it fucks their chances to trade him in the DHO package, right?
well, the fun side is that Portland can run around offering "max" deals to a bunch of RFAs, forcing their teams to sign them for too much money..could PDX be trying to see what players are going to be kicked loose in order to pay these " max" deals?
Seems to me like Olshey is trying to clear the market of any teams with potential space. By making this offer, it really forces BKN's hand in that the Howard deal must get. Helps develop a better picture of what the league will look like heading into the rest of the summer and allows POR to plan accordingly. Don't think there is the slightest chance we can get him though.