I need about $60 over several years, to walk away from almost $17.
According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, Brook Lopez has exercised the opt out clause in his contract — walking away from $16.7 million in the final year of his deal, to become a free agent.
Brook Lopez has opted out of the final year of his contract and will become a free agent, the Daily News first reported Friday, with an early expectation that he’ll re-sign with the Nets for big money. The 7-footer, who informed the Nets of his decision to forgo the $17 million three days before the deadline, is the key to Brooklyn’s offseason, the closest thing it has to a franchise player.
Jason Kidd and the Bucks are reportedly interested in Lopez, who was healthy and productive last season after missing most of 2013-14 because of a second foot fracture. The Knicks, Lakers, Trail Blazers and Suns are among the teams with enough cap space to woo Lopez.
Adrian Wojnarowski reported that both he and Thaddeus Young are expected to re-sign, with Lopez planning to hit free agency again in three years:
After the Brooklyn Nets’ Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young opted out of contracts to become unrestricted free agents, the Nets remain strong frontrunners to re-sign the frontcourt players, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
General manager Billy King is determined to keep Lopez and Young, and both players opted out of contracts with strong intentions of reaching agreement on new deals with Brooklyn, league sources said.
Lopez is likely seeking a three-year, $60 million maximum contract extension, league sources said. The Nets are planning to pay the 7-footer that full market value, although an agreement could include some financial protections for the Nets should a recurrence of Lopez’s past foot issues sideline him again, sources said.
With the Nets stuck in salary cap purgatory, keeping Lopez, to run their offense through makes the best sense.
