Lakers Officially Lose Out on Brook Lopez, Signs Hefty Deal with Milwaukee

No reunion in Los Angeles will happen!

Leading up to 2023 free agency, many Lakers fans were putting together their wishlist and for many, Brook Lopez was at the top of their list. Seeing that he was coming off of one of the best seasons of his career as he averaged a career-high in both blocks and three-point percentage, he would certainly be a perfect fit.

There were a number of problems with this dream though. He just turned 35-years-old and when someone is playing as good as he is at that age... they want their money. Khris Middleton opted out of his own large player option with the Bucks for next year to give them more flexibility and it looks like that worked perfectly as news just broke that Lopez will be returning to the Bucks for a deal worth $48 million over two years.

Shams Charania was the first to break the news.

Free agent center Brook Lopez has agreed to a two-year, $48 million deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2023

"Free agent center Brook Lopez has agreed to a two-year, $48 million deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium."

A starting front court of both Anthony Davis and Brook Lopez would have been amazing but like I mentioned, a lot of things needed to go perfect and they didn't. LA found other guys on the market yesterday and signed them such as Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish and kept it moving.

And even though we should expect them to make a move for another big man at some point in these next few days, they welcomed in a former lottery pick in Jaxson Hayes this morning!

Imagine Brook Lopez back with the Lakers 👀 pic.twitter.com/yIqylkGyjy

— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) June 28, 2023

Lopez probably did give returning to LA some thought but at most, LA would've been offering their full MLE for the year and compared to $48 million, there are not many people that would roll with the purple and gold in that scenario.

Milwaukee would not have been the same team next year without Lopez's return so that is huge for them. They did fizzle out in the first round of the playoff last season due to an injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo but seeing that their main core will be back, they are a team LA could see if they make a push to the Finals.

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