Brook Lopez's capacity to be an impactful piece on a good team had diminished over the past 18 months, but the veteran center is showing signs of life that should have the Golden State Warriors monitoring closely.
The Warriors should be chasing a stretch big to replace Kristaps Porzingis and solidify their center rotation. They would ideally get a younger and better player than Lopez, yet the 38-year-old's recent form suggests the idea shouldn't be completely taken off the table.
Brook Lopez is showing signs of life at the Clippers
Lopez averaged 8.5 points and 3.6 rebounds on 36% shooting from three-point range during his first year with the Clippers, proving easily the least productive season of his career which shouldn't have been overly surprising given his age.
But now in his 19th season, Lopez has had somewhat of a resurgence. The 7'1" big man is averaging 14.7 points and 5.4 rebounds through his first 11 games, shooting 56.1% from the floor and 42.1% from beyond the arc on 3.5 attempts per game.
The problem is the Clippers are 3-8 and 13th in the Western Conference, but Lopez can point to the fact he holds the second-best plus-minus on the team of anyone to be averaging at least 16 minutes per game.
The Clippers' underwhelming record could also push them into trading their veterans over the coming months, including Lopez who is on a $9.2 million expiring contract. If the Warriors don't want to give up too much draft capital, and if they want to retain flexibility and cap space in free agency next year, Lopez may make some sense as a target and ideally in a bigger deal with the pacific rival.
Warriors have intriguing trade possibilities with Clippers
Lopez isn't the only Clippers player on a mid-tier expiring contract. The Warriors had interest in Rui Hachimura in free agency and the veteran forward has a team option for next season, while Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn are other rotation-level pieces who could be of value to playoff teams.
Could Golden State build a package of Porzingis, Gui Santos and a couple of second-round picks for Hachimura and Lopez? Would the Clippers expect a first-round pick in that scenario? Maybe. It is the kind of trade that would give the Warriors an immediete rotation upgrade, while allowing them to retain flexibility for a big move in another trade or via free agency.
Perhaps Lopez wouldn't even be part of Steve Kerr's rotation come playoff time, but he's showing he can still log valuable minutes during the regular season which could be helpful at the right price.
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