Wednesday was the last day the 2008 draft class could get an extension. Of that class, only Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Danilo Gallinari and Kosta Koufos got extensions.
One guy who didn’t take well to not getting extended was Brook Lopez. Fred Kerber with the New York Post writes Lopez was miffed he wans’t included in the extension process.
“I understand it I suppose from a business standpoint,” Lopez said before the Nets’ 97-90 overtime victory over the 76ers last night. “But yeah, I think it’s disappointing because I’d like to be here.”
The Nets declined both Lopez’s option as well as second year swingman Damion James so they could save as much cap room to make a run at Dwight Howard this summer. Lopez will still be a restricted free agent, so there’s a very high chance of him returning to the Nets if Howard doesn’t sign there and even a chance if he does sign there.
The question now becomes what is Lopez worth? Is he a max contract? No, probably not. But he is seven feet tall and incredibly skilled. Sure, he’s not the best defender or rebounder around, but how many seven footers can go out and get you 20 points on 50 percent shooting? And last year his rebounding numbers were awful, but the numbers from his first two years in the league weren’t terrible. If I were a general manager and had $12 or 13 million sitting around, I’d definitely offer it to Brook Lopez before I offer it to Roy Hibbert or JaVale McGee.
