The Milwaukee Bucks are still licking their wounds after the Miami Heat stunned them by dropping them in the first round of the playoffs.
However, they could be gearing up for a big rebounding campaign next season, as they’ve managed to retain many of the key players with whom they won the NBA championship just two years ago.
They re-signed Chris Middleton, arguably the second best player on the team, and also got starting center Brook Lopez to stay in the land of beer and cheese on a new contract.
Lopez is set for some big pay days, with his new contract reportedly worth $48 million over the next two years, with more details provided by Keith Smith.
Brook Lopez’s new contract with the Milwaukee Bucks is $48 million over two years. A league source said the deal starts at $25 million and drops to $23 million for a second year @employee.
– Keith Smith (KeithSmithNBA) July 7, 2023
That’s a lot of money for a guy who only made one All-Star team, again in the 2012-13 season as a member of the Brooklyn Nets.
But he remains a key member of the Bucks since they signed him as a free agent five years ago.
Lopez averaged 15.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, and a career-high 2.5 blocked shots last season while being named to the All-Defensive First-Team.
His long-ball hitting ability (he shot 37.4 percent from 3-point range during the 2022-23 season) helps lure the opposing quarterback out of the paint and open things up for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee will have a new head coach in Adrian Griffin, a former player who has never been an NBA head coach but has 15 seasons of experience as an assistant coach, most recently with the Toronto Raptors.
Griffin was actually an assistant with the Bucks during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.
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