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Lakers Top Candidate to Reunite With Versatile Big Man, Recent NBA Champion

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Dible | Last updated Jun 26, 2025 10:10 AM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers need a big man who can protect the rim on defense, spread the floor on offense and offer Luka Doncic a reliable lob threat in his second campaign with the team.

There are a handful of players headed to the free-agent market who make sense in one -- or several -- of those capacities, including former NBA champion Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks.

"While [the Lakers are] most often connected to the rim-running types who could feast on lob passes from Luka Doncic, they could also see value in opening up the offensive end by bringing the sweet-shooting Lopez back to Hollywood," Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report wrote on Wednesday, June 25. "What they'd probably like even more from the one-time Laker is his ability to clean up mistakes on the defense's back line. Assuming L.A. keeps Austin Reaves around, it figures to have more than its share of defensive breakdowns in the backcourt."

Lopez is 37 years old and coming off a two-year deal worth $48 million in Milwaukee. The Bucks have some incentive to keep him around considering their situation with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has yet to request a trade but is a threat to potentially do so at any time between now and the February deadline.

Milwaukee will be without Damian Lillard for a good chunk of next season -- and potentially all of it -- due to an Achilles tear, and the Bucks have mortgaged their draft future building contenders around the two-time MVP center over the last several years, including the title team in 2021.

Thus, Milwaukee's best chance of keeping Antetokounmpo and staying competitive in an Eastern Conference ravaged by injury -- Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers, the last two conference champions, are likely to miss the entirety of next season with Achilles injuries of their own -- is to re-sign Lopez and forward Bobby Portis, the latter of whom has a player option heading into 2025-26.

All of that is to say the Bucks are incentivized to come with a strong offer to Lopez, even despite his age and the fact that the Pacers played him off the floor in the first round of the playoffs with their frenetic, fast break-centric style of offense.

If the Lakers want a reunion with Lopez, it's going to cost them -- and he isn't the perfect fit given his warts as a player.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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