Brooklyn Nets looking to be a deadline buyer, but what’s for sale?
By Phil Watson
Chicago Bulls
Cap status: Over by $3.4 million
Expiring contracts: Jabari Parker ($20 million, plus $20 million team option for 2019-20), Robin Lopez ($14.4 million), Justin Holiday ($4.4 million), Cameron Payne ($3.3 million), Bobby Portis ($2.5 million), Ryan Arcidiacono ($1.4 million), Shaquille Harrison ($1.3 million)
Robin Lopez, a.k.a. the Lopez twin that can’t shoot, will be 31 by season’s end and has been reduced to a backup role with the emergence of Wendell Carter in Chicago.
He’s also been pretty much a non-factor this season, averaging 5.7 points and just 2.2 rebounds in 17.0 minutes per game. Yes, the 4.6 rebounds per 36 minutes are, in fact, the worst rate of his career — by far (he was at 6.2 per 36 last season).
Lopez brings grit and toughness, but the Nets already have that with Ed Davis (who can actually, you know, rebound … kind of a big deal for a center).
At the wrong end of the salary scale is Bobby Portis, a high-energy 4 with an injury history, but could be an intriguing addition for the right price.
Next. 10 best Nets from 3rd NBA decade (1996-2006). dark
As for Jabari Parker, well, he’s lived by that “no one in the NBA plays defense” thing this season and it’s landed him at the end of the Bulls bench. It doesn’t matter if you score 15 points a game if you’re going to give up 30. Ball don’t lie … and neither does math.