Brook Lopez

Bucks Notes: First-Round Loss, Budenholzer, Free Agency, Antetokounmpo, Crowder

April 27th, 2023 at 8:04am CST by Arthur Hill

After winning a league-best 58 games during the regular season, the Bucks could only manage one victory against a determined Heat team in the postseason, writes Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The betting favorite to win the title heading into the playoffs saw its season end in shocking fashion Wednesday night with an epic fourth quarter collapse and an overtime loss.

“For me, I think this has been the worst postseason ever,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “I don’t think, you know, like we have a number in there, like every other team has a number (of games to win a title) like 16, 15, 14, and this like, we’re stuck at 15. I don’t think we’ve ever, as long as I’ve been in the playoffs, been stuck – maybe we lost in the first round – but not stuck at 15. Which is kind of hard to deal with.”

The back injury that Antetokounmpo suffered in Game 1 affected the direction of the series, but there were plenty of other explanations for Milwaukee’s first-round defeat. There were turnovers, missed free throws, rebounding lapses and a lack of focus at critical times.

Several players refused to talk to the media after being eliminated, but those who did expressed severe disappointment.

“I feel like we had the roster to do more than what we’ve done,” Jae Crowder said. “We came up short. Obviously we had a championship in mind and that’s the only conversation we always had, is championship. So we came up short big time. And we failed.”

There’s more from Milwaukee:

Among the lapses were questionable coaching decisions by Mike Budenholzer, who was heavily criticized in the press and on social media following Wednesday’s loss. Budenholzer failed to call a timeout after Jimmy Butler tied the game with 0.5 seconds left in regulation or as the Bucks failed to get off a shot as the final buzzer sounded in overtime. There were rumors that Budenholzer might be fired before the Bucks won the title in 2021, and Tim Cato of The Athletic considers it unlikely that he’ll survive Wednesday’s performance.
Brook Lopez, who will be a free agent, and Khris Middleton, who has a $40.4MM player option, will be the names to watch this offseason, per Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link). If the front office brings back both players, the Bucks will be a tax team for the fourth straight year.
Antetokounmpo will become eligible for an extension in September, but that could just be a formality, according to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. Gozlan expects the two-time MVP to wait and seek a new long-term contract once his current deal expires.
Crowder is among several free agent bench players who face uncertain futures this summer. After the Bucks gave up five second-round picks to acquire him in February, he got into just three games and played 40 total minutes during the series, notes Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer (Twitter link).

Bucks Notes: Haslam, Lopez, Depth, Giannis, Matthews

April 22nd, 2023 at 7:52am CST by Luke Adams

Before buying a stake in the franchise, Jimmy Haslam first spoke to Bucks co-owner Wes Edens when he was mulling the possibility of bidding for the Timberwolves, according to Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“We actually took a look at the Minnesota Timberwolves and a friend of mine said, ‘You should call Wes Edens, he operates a team in the upper Midwest, they’ve had great success,'” Haslam said. “‘Cause you’re concerned, can you attract players, can you win in a small market? So we had about an hour-and-a-half conversation and Wes was hugely helpful.”

While Haslam didn’t end up investing in the Timberwolves, his conversation with Edens made him more comfortable jumping at the chance to purchase a stake in the Bucks when the opportunity arose. Asked for his thoughts about the future of the team in Milwaukee, Haslam expressed confidence in the Bucks’ long-term outlook.

“The first time Wes and I ever talked was (asking) could an NBA team not just reside here, but could it be successful? And they’ve obviously proved they can,” Haslam said. “They’ve punched way over their weight in almost everything in the NBA, starting first of all on the court, which is what counts. I anticipate the team being here for a long time. Listen, this isn’t a turnaround situation. These guys have done a hell of a job, so we’re gonna be quiet and listen and learn, and if we can help down the road, that’s great.”

Here’s more on the Bucks:

Brook Lopez made an All-Star team back in 2013 but has never played in the Olympics and fell just short of earning his first Defensive Player of the Year award this spring. Although he’d like to earn more accolades before he calls it a career, Lopez says he’s motivated by missing out, per Lori Nickel of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I use all that stuff,” he said. “I’d like to be a part of an Olympic team. I still feel like I have a long career left. Hopefully playing the way I play, maybe a couple of all-stars? I have my personal goals, but the way things roll out, it’s definitely motivation for me.”
Without Giannis Antetokounmpo available in Game 2 due to his lower back contusion, the Bucks showed off their depth and proved that they’re capable of holding down the fort until the MVP finalist returns, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.com. Pat Connaughton was one of the role players who provided a critical spark for the team, Owczarski writes for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Will Antetokounmpo be able to return for Game 3 in Miami? That’s still to be determined, as the star forward has been listed as questionable for Saturday’s contest. Giannis did some individual work on Friday, but didn’t take part in practice with his teammates, per Owczarski.
Wesley Matthews, who played nearly 18 minutes in Game 1 of the series and then missed Game 2 with a right calf strain, has been ruled out for Game 3 as well. A source with knowledge of the situation tells Owczarski that the Bucks are hopeful Matthews’ strain isn’t as severe as the one that sidelined him for nine games in February and March.

Jaren Jackson Jr. Named Defensive Player Of Year

April 17th, 2023 at 6:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. has been named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, the NBA on TNT tweets. Jackson received 56 of the 100 first-place votes, according to an NBA press release.

The Bucks’ Brook Lopez and Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley were the other finalists. Lopez was the runner-up, notching 31 first-place votes while Mobley received eight. Draymond Green (3) and Bam Adebayo (1) also received first-place votes and finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Joel Embiid claimed the final first-place vote, though the Sixers star finished ninth overall, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, OG Anunoby, and Jrue Holiday. Nic Claxton, Alex Caruso, and Jimmy Butler also appeared on at least one ballot.

Jackson led the NBA in blocks per game (3.0) and also averaged one steal in 63 regular-season appearances for the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed. He had a career-best 2.0 Defensive Box Plus/Minus rating and a 3.8 Defensive Win Shares rating, ranking him among the top 10 in the league in both categories.

Lopez averaged a career-high 2.5 blocks while serving as the defensive anchor for the Eastern Conference’s top seed. His total of 193 blocks in 78 games led the league during the regular season.

Mobley averaged 1.5 blocks per game and, along with Jarrett Allen, anchored a defense that limited opponents to a NBA-low 106.9 points per game.

The Celtics’ Marcus Smart scored a rare victory for a guard when he won the award last season. Rudy Gobert won it as a member of the Jazz three of the previous four years. Antetokounmpo won it during the pandemic-shortened 2019/20 season.

Among active players, Green (2016/17 season) and Kawhi Leonard (2014/15 and 2015/16) have also earned the honor.

NBA Announces 2022/23 Award Finalists

April 14th, 2023 at 5:55pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA announced its finalists for all the major 2022/23 regular season awards on Friday evening (all Twitter links can be found here).

Here is the full list of finalists for each of the awards, listed in alphabetical order:

Most Valuable Player

Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Joel Embiid (Sixers)
Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)

Defensive Player of the Year

Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
Brook Lopez (Bucks)
Evan Mobley (Cavaliers)

Rookie of the Year

Paolo Banchero (Magic)
Walker Kessler (Jazz)
Jalen Williams (Thunder)

Most Improved Player

Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
Lauri Markkanen (Jazz)

Sixth Man of the Year

Malcolm Brogdon (Celtics)
Bobby Portis (Bucks)
Immanuel Quickley (Knicks)

Coach of the Year

Mike Brown (Kings)
Mark Daigneault (Thunder)
Joe Mazzulla (Celtics)

Clutch Player of the Year

Jimmy Butler (Heat)
DeMar DeRozan (Bulls)
De’Aaron Fox (Kings)

TNT will begin announcing the winners next week during its coverage of the 2023 playoffs, according to the NBA. The three finalists for each award are based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Antetokounmpo, the league’s back-to-back MVP winner in 2018/19 and ’19/20, has finished fourth and third in MVP voting over the past two seasons, respectively. He averaged a career-high 31.1 PPG along with 11.8 RPG and 5.7 APG on .553/.275/.645 shooting in 63 games (32.1 MPG) this season in leading the Bucks to the NBA’s best record at 58-24.

Embiid, the MVP runner-up in each of the past two years, led the league in scoring for the second consecutive season, posting a career-high 33.1 PPG along with 10.2 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.0 SPG and 1.7 BPG on .548/.330/.857 shooting in 66 games (34.6 MPG). The Sixers finished third in the East with a 54-28 record, though it’s worth noting that record is also the third-best mark in the league.

Jokic, the reigning back-to-back MVP, averaged 24.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 9.8 APG and 1.3 SPG on .632/.383/.822 shooting in 69 games (33.7. MPG). In addition to breaking Wilt Chamberlain‘s record for most assists per game by a center (8.6), Jokic led the Nuggets to the top seed in the West with a 53-29 record.

It’s long been assumed that Banchero, Brown and Fox were the runaway favorites for their respective awards. Given Embiid’s excellent play to end the season and Denver’s stumble to the finish line, it seems likely that Embiid will edge out Jokic and Antetokounmpo to win his first MVP — all three finalists are more than deserving, just as they were last year.

However, the other three awards are more up in the air. Jackson and Lopez have been considered the betting favorites for DPOY for much of the second half of the season. Mobley’s inclusion is somewhat surprising, but maybe it shouldn’t be — the Cavs finished with the league’s top defense and he is arguably the best defender on the team.

Bucks Notes: Matthews, Middleton, Holiday, Lopez

April 6th, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks have been limiting Wesley Matthews‘ playing time to keep him fresh for the postseason, and the 36-year-old swingman showed Wednesday what his playoff impact might be, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Amid injuries to several teammates, Matthews played 30 minutes against the Bulls, contributing seven points and eight rebounds while frustrating DeMar DeRozan on defense.

Matthews has appeared in just 50 games this season and has logged 15.8 minutes per night, the lowest figure of his career. He hasn’t necessarily endorsed the reduced role, but he’s willing to do whatever coach Mike Budenholzer believes is best for the team.

“It’s tough to manage, but within that, it’s understanding that you can still impact the game and that goes back to what my mom told me, I think probably when I was like four or five years old is that there’s so many ways that you can impact the basketball game,” Matthews said. “Other than my high school time, my high school career, I’ve never been the leading scorer on my team. Could I have done it? Probably. But that wasn’t what was asked of me. It was to win. Help the team win, and by any means necessary.”

There’s more on the Bucks:

Khris Middleton left Wednesday’s game in the first quarter with soreness in his right knee after appearing to hurt it on a jump shot (video link), Nehm adds. Budenholzer wasn’t able to offer much information on Middleton’s condition, but he called it a “re-aggravation of kind of something that we’ve been working with him on all year.” Middleton has dealt with a variety of ailments that have limited him to 33 games. He missed the first 20 games of the season while recovering from surgery and experienced persistent knee pain around the All-Star break.
Jrue Holiday is close to wrapping up another bonus, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Holiday will receive a bonus if he averages 7.3 assists per game, and he’s at 7.4 after picking up 15 assists against Chicago.
With 26 points on Wednesday, Brook Lopez reached the 20-point mark for the 26th time this season, tweets Kane Pittman of ESPN Australia. That matches his total during his first four years with the Bucks as he’s enjoying his best scoring season since 2016/17. Lopez is also among the top contenders for Defensive Player of the Year honors and is in position to land another significant contract at age 35.

Bucks Notes: Lopez, Top Seed, Thanasis, Mamukelashvili, Ingles

March 23rd, 2023 at 2:47pm CST by Rory Maher

Brook Lopez showed why he’s so valuable to the Bucks during Sunday’s victory over Toronto, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic. The veteran center finished with a strong stat line — a team-high 26 points (on 9-of-15 shooting), five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in 31 minutes.

What those numbers don’t show is that he completely dominated the fourth quarter. With Giannis Antetokounmpo facing consistent double-teams, Lopez made timely cuts, drives and finishes around the hoop, finishing with more points (17) than the Raptors (16) in the final frame, Nehm writes.

As Nehm details, Lopez’s offensive arsenal has continually evolved since he joined Milwaukee five years ago. He’s averaging 15.6 points (highest total in six years), while shooting 52.1% from the field (highest FG% in nine years) and a career-best 37.7% from three-point range.

Lopez, who is making $13.9MM in the final year of his contract, is also a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, posting a career high 2.5 blocks per game for the NBA’s top team.

Here’s more on the Bucks:

At 52-20, the Bucks hold a 2.5-game lead on the Celtics for the best record in the NBA. Are they gunning for the No. 1 overall seed entering the playoffs? “I think we want it,” guard Grayson Allen said, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I think we want the one seed. Even like after All-Star break it’s been super close between really the top three teams in the East, so, it’s not something we obsess about – we’re not checking it every day, every game – but I think we’re definitely aware of it. I know as a group, I know we want the one seed.” According to Owczarski, Antetokounmpo said that if he had to pick between the Bucks being healthy or the top seed, he would choose health, but since it’s within reach, they “should take the spot” to get home-court advantage throughout the postseason.
Reserve forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo was away from the team for five days, including a couple games, while dealing with a personal matter, but he has rejoined the Bucks, Owczarski writes in another story. Guard Goran Dragic has yet to make his Bucks debut due to knee soreness, and forward Jae Crowder has missed the past three games with left calf soreness. When asked if they could return on the upcoming three-game road trip, head coach Mike Budenholzer said it was still up in the air. “I think it’s right on the window of possibility,” Budenholzer said. “There’s a chance they’re not available, but there is a chance that they are. They’re working, both of them hard, making good progress. We’ll just see how it goes during that stretch.”
Budenholzer said it was tough to part with Sandro Mamukelashvili at the beginning of the month, but the team believed it was the “right thing” for the big man’s career, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “He is a good player,” Budenholzer said before Thursday’s matchup with the Spurs. “I hope he is terrible tonight, but generally he is great. And we are great fans of the human. He is a great person.” The Spurs claimed the second-year forward/center off waivers after he was released by Milwaukee and converted his two-way contract to a standard rest-of-season deal.
Forward Joe Ingles recently shared some thoughts on how he’s approaching his return to Utah to face the Jazz on Friday night, his longtime former club, notes Gabe Stoltz of BrewHoop (via Twitter).

NBA Suspends Kings’ Trey Lyles, Fines Bucks’ Brook Lopez

March 15th, 2023 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

Kings forward Trey Lyles has been suspended for one game without pay and Bucks center Brook Lopez has been fined $25K for their roles in an on-court altercation between the two teams in Sacramento on Monday, the NBA announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

During the final seconds of the Bucks’ win over the Kings, Lyles took exception to Giannis Antetokounmpo dribbling the ball toward him while running out the clock. He tried to steal the ball away, then shoved Antetokounmpo. Lopez jumped to his teammate’s defense, resulting in a brief on-court skirmish between the two teams (Twitter video link via Bleacher Report).

Both Lyles and Lopez were ejected from the game, and the NBA said in today’s announcement that the two big men were disciplined further for escalating the situation — Lopez did so by confronting Lyles, then the Kings forward escalated matters further by “striking Lopez in the face” and “grabbing and holding Lopez around the neck area.”

As a result of his one-game ban, Lyles will miss Wednesday’s game in Chicago and will forfeit about $18K, which is 1/145th of his $2.63MM salary for the season.

Lopez’s $25K fine will come out of his $13.9MM salary for 2022/23.

Bucks Notes: Giannis, Lopez, Portis, Kings Skirmish

March 14th, 2023 at 9:26am CST by Luke Adams

While Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid may end up as the top two finishers in MVP voting this season for the third consecutive year, Bucks general manager Jon Horst wants to make sure voters don’t overlook two-time winner Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Speaking to Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Horst expressed a belief that Antetokounmpo is suffering from “greatness fatigue,” with voters getting accustomed to the eye-popping numbers that the star forward is putting up. Antetokounmpo is averaging a career-best 31.5 points per game in 53 games this season to go along with 11.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per night while playing at an All-Defensive level. At 49-19, the Bucks have the NBA’s best record.

“He’s also doing this playing less minutes than anybody, which is remarkable. That’s a sacrifice,” Horst said of Giannis, who is averaging just 32.5 minutes per contest. “That’s an intentional sacrifice by him to give our team the best chance to have the deepest playoff success possible.

“That’s not an easy thing. That’s something that he does so he’s ready to perform at the biggest moments. Give the guy 36, 37, 38 minutes a game, there’s not even a conversation. Obviously you can see I’m very strong (on this) and I believe it.”

Here’s more on the Bucks:

In his conversation with Owczarski, Horst also made cases for Bobby Portis as the Sixth Man of the Year and Brook Lopez as the Defensive Player of the Year. “He contests more shots than anybody,” the Bucks’ GM said of Lopez. “His blocks are league-leading. He does it without fouling. … The guy is absolutely deserving of an award this year. I think it all matters. The reason that I think this team has been really good even though we’ve had a lot of other moving parts has been his consistency. He’s an anchor for us and he plays every night. And he’s gotten better. This guy is having a career year. It’s incredible.”
A panel of writers at The Athletic – David Aldridge, James L. Edwards III, and Josh Robbins – debated the current Defensive Player of the Year frontrunners and all submitted hypothetical three-man ballots that included two Bucks players. Edwards has Lopez first and Antetokounmpo second in his DPOY rankings, while Aldridge placed Lopez and Giannis second and third and Robbins had Lopez and Holiday as his two runners-up (both Aldridge and Robbins made Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. their current DPOY pick).
Antetokounmpo and Lopez were among the players involved in a scuffle during the final seconds of the Bucks’ win over the Kings on Monday night. As Marc J. Spears of ESPN writes, Kings forward Trey Lyles took exception to Giannis dribbling the ball toward him while running out the clock and tried to steal it before shoving Antetokounmpo, resulting in a brief on-court skirmish between the two teams (Twitter video link via Bleacher Report). Lopez and Lyles were both ejected and will likely face additional discipline in the form of fines, if not suspensions. “Giannis could just dribble the ball out,” Kings guard De’Aaron Fox said after the game. “That’s all he had to do, and nothing would have happened.”

Free Agent Stock Watch: Central Division

March 1st, 2023 at 3:53pm CST by Rory Maher

For the rest of the regular season and postseason, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents during the 2023 offseason. We consider whether their stock is rising or falling due to their performance and other factors. Today, we’re focusing on a handful of Central players.

Brook Lopez, C, Bucks

2022/23: $13,906,976
2023/24: UFA
Stock: Up

Lopez has been one of the NBA’s best stories this season, rebounding from a mostly lost season in 2021/22 after undergoing back surgery (he played just 13 regular season games and 12 playoff games). He’s having an outstanding year and has been a major factor in Milwaukee’s league-leading 44-17 record, averaging 14.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 2.4 BPG on .508/.370/.766 shooting through 60 games (30.3 MPG).

The veteran center, who is one of the leading candidates for Defensive Player of the Year, has said he hopes to remain with the Bucks, and the interest is reportedly mutual. Lopez has definitely earned a raise, but given his age (he turns 35 next month), I’d be a little surprised if he gets more than a two-year deal.

Khris Middleton, F, Bucks

2022/23: $37,948,276
2023/24: $40,396,552 (player option)
Stock: Down

Middleton’s stock is down primarily due to injuries, which have limited him to 20 games to this point. The Bucks have been very cautious with the three-time All-Star, as he’s been coming off the bench lately and averaging his fewest minutes per game (21.5) since he was a rookie. However, despite the small sample size, it’s worth noting that the Bucks have been terrific with Middleton on the court – he has a plus-9.7 net rating, per NBA.com.

A career 38.9% three-point shooter, Middleton is making just 29.9% from deep this season, which has hurt his offensive efficiency (the rest of his shooting numbers are very close to career norms). That seems more like an aberration than a long-term concern.

The remaining 21 regular season games and how he fares in the postseason will likely determine whether or not the 31-year-old decides to pick up his player option for ’23/24. Let’s not forget that Middleton averaged 23.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 5.1 APG and 1.5 SPG during Milwaukee’s championship run a couple years ago — I would not be surprised at all if he bounces back from a disappointing season over the next few months.

Ayo Dosunmu, G, Bulls

2022/23: $1,563,518
2023/24: RFA
Stock: Neutral

The 38^th pick of the 2021 draft, Dosunmu had a strong rookie campaign, earning a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 8.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 3.3 APG on .520/.376/.679 shooting in 77 games (40 starts, 27.4 MPG).

His numbers have been quite similar in year two, with the 23-year-old averaging 9.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.8 APG on .498/.316/.806 shooting in 60 games (49 starts, 28.1 MPG). Obviously the three-point percentage is down, which is unfortunate, and he hasn’t necessarily progressed from a statistical standpoint like some second-year players do.

Advanced stats aren’t very high on Dosunmu, and the Bulls have been better by a pretty significant margin when he’s not on the court. While Dosunmu may not have made a second-year leap, I still like his defensive potential and he reportedly has a strong work ethic and team-first attitude.

Dosunmu met the starter criteria, so the value of his qualifying offer increased to $5,216,324. It will be interesting to see how his restricted free agency plays out.

Hamidou Diallo, G/F, Pistons

2022/23: $5,200,000
2023/24: UFA
Stock: Up

Diallo is challenging to evaluate because his strengths and weakness are more pronounced than most players. He is a non-shooting wing with pretty bad tunnel vision, which you would expect would make him ineffective in a league constantly looking for floor-spacers.

That isn’t the case. The 24-year-old is one of the most athletic players in the NBA and he plays with a tremendous amount of energy. He utilizes those strengths to play strong defense, crash the boards, drive, and catch lobs, and he’s been very effective at all of those things in ‘22/23.

The Pistons have an overall defensive rating of 117.6, which ranks 28^th in the league. When Diallo is on the court, Detroit has the equivalent of the league’s fourth-best defense. He is shooting a career-high 58.1% from the field in large part because he is converting 71.8% of his attempts at the rim, per DunksAndThrees.com – a better mark than many centers.

Sometimes Diallo’s energy carries over into recklessness. He fouls too much and can be turnover-prone. Even if his game is polarizing, I think he deserves a raise, perhaps a deal in the range of $6-10MM per year.

Oshae Brissett, F, Pacers

2022/23: $1,846,738
2023/24: UFA
Stock: Down

After averaging 9.6 PPG and 5.4 RPG on .428/.368/.716 shooting in 88 games (41 starts, 23.7 MPG) with Indiana from 2020-22, Brissett had an opportunity to establish himself as a reliable rotation player in a contract year. Unfortunately, that has not come to fruition.

The Pacers have been relatively weak at power forward all season. Brissett hasn’t helped much. He’s averaging 5.5 PPG and 3.4 RPG on .388/.333/.693 shooting in 49 games in ‘22/23, with his playing time cut back to 16.0 MPG. He has been a healthy scratch in seven of the last eight games.

Still just 24 years old, Brissett should land another (relatively small) deal in free agency — he’s a solid rebounder and defender. But those shooting numbers are a problem, and his stock is definitely down compared to the past couple seasons.

Brook Lopez On Future With Bucks: “Can’t Imagine Being Anywhere Else”

January 11th, 2023 at 12:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Few NBA players are enjoying more successful contract years than Bucks center Brook Lopez, who has bounced back after missing most of last season due to a back injury and has established himself as a legitimate candidate for Defensive Player of the Year consideration.

On track for unrestricted free agency in the offseason, Lopez spoke to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype about his future and expressed a desire to remain in Milwaukee for the foreseeable future.

“I love it here,” Lopez said on Monday. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity the Bucks gave me five years ago to come here and be a part of something special. We’ve had a great time. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

Lopez spent the first nine years of his NBA career with the Nets, then was a Laker for a single season in 2017/18. He signed as a free agent with the Bucks in the summer of 2018 and has been with the franchise since then, earning an All-Defensive nod in 2020 and winning a championship in 2021 as Milwaukee’s starting center.

Lopez is no longer the 20-point-per-game scorer he was during his New Jersey and Brooklyn days, but he’s having one of the best seasons of his career in 2022/23, averaging 14.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 2.6 BPG on .505/.381/.788 shooting through 39 games (30.3 MPG).

As Scotto details, Lopez leads the NBA in contested shots and total blocks as the anchor of a Bucks defense that ranks third in the league in defensive rating (109.4). Teammates Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday advocated on Monday for Lopez’s Defensive Player of the Year candidacy and the big man admitted that he has thought about winning the award.

“It’s definitely a goal of mine,” Lopez told Scotto. “Obviously, I’m a team-first player who wants the team to be successful. We want to win a championship. That’s our main goal. It definitely would be a personal point of pride for me, and it’s a goal for myself.”

Lopez, who is earning approximately $13.9MM in the final season of the four-year contract he signed with Milwaukee in 2019, will remain extension-eligible until June 30. The Bucks would probably be reluctant to sign the 34-year-old to a long-term deal, but tacking a year or two onto his current contract seems viable.

If he were to sign an in-season extension, Lopez would be eligible for a 20% raise on this year’s salary, with 8% raises for any additional years beyond that. That would work out to $16.7MM for a one-year extension or $34.7MM over two years.

If he were to wait until free agency, Lopez would be eligible to earn any amount up to the max (projected to be $46.9MM in 2023/24), though it’s unrealistic to think he’d get an offer worth anywhere close to that amount at age 35, even after a strong season.

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