The Brook Lopez Problem

Fansided.com- Josh Hill

On the night of December 20th the Nets suffered one of their worst losses of the season to the woeful Philadelphia 76ers. While the loss itself was disgraceful, the Nets lost more than just a game, they lost their center and best player, Brook Lopez, to a season ending broken foot injury. The loss put them at 9-17 and for most Nets fans, the season felt finished. Fans also began to doubt all the transactions by Billy King and owner Mikhail Prokorhov. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett appeared to be shells of the players they were in Boston, while Deron Williams had started the season in a similar manner to how he has started every season with the Nets, banged up and injured. With the highest payroll in NBA history, the Nets appeared destined to be the largest laughingstock in NBA history.

Now, we all know how the Nets responded to the injury of the big man. Since January 1st the Nets have one of the best records in the NBA and have climbed all the way from the Eastern Conference basement to the 5th seed and a fight for the division title. Their defense and offense have improved without Brook Lopez. On defense, Kevin Garnett has proven to be a great center, while Alan Anderson and Shaun Livingston have been more effective on the perimeter. On offense, the team has far more flow and movement than it had with Lopez in the lineup. With Lopez in, the second the ball went into the post, the other four Nets stood around waiting for Lopez to make some type of post move. Without Lopez the Nets are running and getting better shots in transition and dear I say it they are actually getting easy baskets like dunks and layups. The Nets are also playing to the strengths of their coach Jason Kidd and star point guard Deron Williams, who prefer a more uptempo style. Marcus Thornton has thrived in the Nets higher pace offense as he has rattled off a few 20 point games already. Most importantly, Joe Johnson's game has improved without Lopez, while Deron Williams has been able to push the tempo, a style he thrived in, in Utah. Lost in all of this talk about Lopez is the emergence of Mason Plumlee. Through the absence of Kevin Garnett to a back injury, Plumlee has shot up the ranks on the NBA rookie charts and appears to be a real NBA center. He has played great in all the games he has started, providing great defense, incredible shot blocking abilities, a high motor and the ability to crash the boards and give the Nets easy baskets. While he is not Brook Lopez, he is a younger, healthier, more athletic and cheaper center. Plumlee's athleticism is also vital on a team that lacks great athletes. While Williams, Johnson, Pierce, Thornton and Blatche are skilled, they do not possess the pure athletic and jumping abilities that Plumlee has.

While the season isn't close to being over, as the Nets appear poised for a possible late playoff push, it is difficult not to wonder where Brook Lopez lies in the Nets' future. The Nets have an interesting cap situation. Deron Williams has three years left after this year, while Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez have two more years under contract after this year. Kevin Garnett is signed for one more year after this season, while Paul Pierce will be a free agent after this season. While Garnett and Pierce are the wildcards on top of the impending free agency of Livingston and Blatche, Lopez is the true wildcard moving forward. Whether Pierce and Garnett come back, Billy King has to recognize two significant flaws about Brook Lopez. First, he is a center that has a recurring foot issue. A foot injury is arguably the worst injury a center can incur, and history proves this. Centers Bill Walton, Yao Ming and Sam Bowie had their careers completely derailed by foot injuries. The Nets cannot afford to wait on the health of an injured 7 footer. Moreover, this is now the third time Lopez has broken his foot. Lopez will also be paid a hefty sum of over 15 million dollars a year. King has to recognize that while it may be fun to have a lineup loaded with big time names, the Nets are simply better without Lopez. Some may retort that the Nets never had the time to figure out how to integrate Lopez into the lineup, it is blatantly clear that the presence of Lopez diminished the utility of their other great players.

So, if Billy King decides to move Brook Lopez, the question remains what talent can the Nets receive back. While Lopez is a 20 point per game scorer, a great shot blocker and a 7-footer, his injuries, subpar rebounding and slow pace may impede the Nets from getting any great value. However, the Nets should view Lopez as a sunk cost at this point. While he may have the reputation as one of the most dominant big men in the game, the Nets know what they can do with him and what they can do without him. It may be in the Nets best interest to keep him for the start of the season, hope he plays well and than deal him, however then they run the risk of another injury. Billy King should try to rack up as many expiring contracts and draft picks for Lopez and hope that a team such as the Suns, Magic, or even Cavaliers bite on the opportunity to add an established young all-star. It is clear that a core of Williams, Johnson, Pierce, Plumlee, Thornton, Livingston and Blatche are good enough to be a dangerous playoff team. The Nets need to use the remaining assets they have (Lopez) on getting expiring contracts and draft picks so that they can be in a great position to sign players such as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving and others when they can become free agents.

As the season reaches its end, it is clear that Brook Lopez's once entrenched spot in Brooklyn is quickly fading. It is unfortunate that his body has not held up, however there are countless stars who have lost their careers to injuries. The Nets need to move on and recognize that their "home grown" "drafted" star may have already had his best days.
As the Nets have shown, this team can thrive without its Stanford big.



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