After seemingly being on his way out of Brooklyn for years, Brook Lopez will be able to test the free-agent market for the first time in his career.
According to Ohm Youngmusik of ESPN, Lopez declined his $16.7 million player option for next season and will become a free agent. However, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports noted the Nets are still frontrunners to re-sign him.
Brooklyn general manager Billy King said after the team was eliminated from the playoffs that everyone wanted him back next season, according to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post:
Without Brook Lopez, there’s no way we even get to where we go to this year.