Brook Lopez had a player option on his contract with the Nets to remain with the team on a deal that would have paid him in excess of $16.7 million for next season.
“Had” is the operative word, because Lopez has declined the final year of his deal to become an unrestricted free agent.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
Lopez has dealt with significant injuries in two of his last four seasons, so declining a one-year deal for a longer, more lucrative one that provides some long-term financial security makes plenty of sense.
Should he be interested in pursuing other opportunities, plenty of teams would come calling. When healthy, Lopez is a more-than-solid big man option, especially offensively. He averaged 17.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots in 29.2 minutes per game in Brooklyn last season.
