The Los Angeles Clippers are signing long-time Milwaukee Bucks big man Brook Lopez to a two-year $18 million deal, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
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. pic.twitter.com/vmxiXtoGqu
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2025
Grade: A
The Clippers desperately needed a backup center last season. They were 15.5 points worse per 100 possessions when Ivica Zubac sat. Now, they’ll have Lopez as insurance behind their trusty center.
Lopez isn’t who he used to be. The 36-year-old is no longer a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber presence but teams shot 58 percent at the basket when he was on the floor and the 7-footer is still good for two blocks a night.
The Clippers won’t have to change their defensive scheme to accommodate Lopez, who, much like Zubac, is most comfortable in drop coverage. Unlike Zubac, Lopez provides a different look offensively as a floor-spacing big man who shot 36 percent from three during his seven years with the Bucks. Given his screen-setting, Lopez can work well with James Harden in pick-and-rolls, and he knows how to make himself useful as a post scorer, too.
Ultimately, this is a low-cost, high-upside signing for the Clippers, which fill their need at the center spot without tweaking their scheme defensively. That schemed was quite beneficial last season, as Los Angeles finished third in defensive rating.
It seemed Lopez’s time in Milwaukee was coming to an end this summer, but it’ll no doubt miss his presence on both sides of the floor. The Bucks must find a new identity without their trusty big man. Where they go from here could have ripple effects across the NBA.
