Lopez ends his seven-year run with Bucks to sign with the Clippers
After the Bucks re-signed Bobby Portis, it looked like Brook Lopez may have to look elsewhere for a new home, and he has just done that, signing with the Los Angeles Clippers on a two-year, $18m deal:
FROM SHAMS:
Free agent center Brook Lopez has agreed to a two-year, $18 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, sources tell ESPN. Clippers and Lopez’s agents at Wasserman negotiate a new deal for the 2021 Bucks champion to exit Milwaukee and land in Los Angeles.
— Shams Charania Tweets (& Other NBA News) (@shamsbot.bsky.social) 2025-06-30T23:56:26.707Z
Lopez has been a fixture for the Milwaukee Bucks since he came to them in free agency after a year with the Los Angeles Lakers. After rarely taking three-point shots most of his career, he found a new life in the NBA as a three-and-D rim-protecting center. He was an instrumental part of the Bucks’ championship run in 2021 by averaging 12.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and shooting 33.8% from beyond the arc. Lopez was a two-time all-defensive team member, earning second-team honors in the 2019–20 season, first-team honors in 2022–23, and finishing runner-up in Defensive Player of the Year voting that same year.
Outside of a back injury in 2021–22 that limited him to 13 games, he’s been an iron man, playing in 68 or more games during his other six seasons in the Brew City. Yet, things slowed down for the 37-year-old center, seemingly losing a step in the playoffs this year. He was played off the floor in the Bucks’ five-game series loss, only averaging 15 minutes per game. The Fresno native heads back home to California to seemingly become the backup center to Ivica Zubac for the next two years at around $9m. Coming into the offseason, the Clippers were $15m below the tax line, so they had access to the $14.1m full midlevel exception, which they will use to sign Lopez, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. They have around $5.1m of their MLE remaining to work with.
The only members left of the Bucks’ 2021 title team are now Giannis, Portis, and Pat Connaughton, who could be on the move according to reports. Despite the unsatisfying end to his tenure, we here at Brew Hoop thank Brook for his time with the Bucks and wish him well back in California.