Nets Frontrunners To Re-Sign Lopez, Young

TUESDAY, 10:55am: The Magic have kept an eye on Young as a possible target, but he’s still likely to re-sign with the Nets, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter).

3:19pm: Young will listen to pitches from other teams despite the mutual interest in a return to Brooklyn, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter).

MONDAY, 1:25pm: Opposing teams increasingly convinced that they have no shot at either Lopez or Young, report Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com.

FRIDAY, 4:37pm: The Nets are strong frontrunners to re-sign Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young this offseason, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Both players will be unrestricted free agents after opting out of their respective deals for the 2015/16 campaign. GM Billy King is determined to keep the pair, and both players opted out of their contracts with strong intentions of reaching agreement on new deals with Brooklyn, league sources informed Wojnarowski.

Lopez is likely seeking a three-year, $60MM maximum contract, according to the Yahoo! scribe’s sources. The Nets are planning to pay the seven-footer full market value, although the agreement could include some financial protections for Brooklyn should a recurrence of Lopez’s past foot issues sideline him again, Wojnarowski notes. Lopez could also opt to do a deal that includes a player option for the third year, which would allow him to re-enter free agency after the maximum contract salaries elevate with the flow of new television money, adds Wojnarowski. The big man passed on the $16,744,218 that he was due next season, with the hope that he can secure a new long-term deal.

Young, who opted out of the nearly $10.222MM owed him next season, is on course for a four-year, $48MM-plus deal via free agency, and the Nets appear strongly willing to meet those parameters, league sources relayed to Wojnarowski. The forward had reportedly been leaning toward opting out as of late last month, though Young’s agent Jim Tanner had suggested that he instead opt in and hit free agency next summer, when the salary cap is projected to surge. The 27-year-old averaged 14.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per game this season, and was acquired by Brooklyn in a midseason trade with Minnesota.

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