Another core piece of the Milwaukee Bucks' 2021 championship team is now out the door.
Per ESPN's Shams Charania, 3-and-D starting center Brook Lopez is inking a two-year, $18 million free agent contract with his hometown L.A. Clippers.
For the Clippers, this likely means that Drew Eubanks will not be a part of the club's 2025-26 roster, in one way or another.
With nine-time All-Star Milwaukee point guard Damian Lillard likely done for most — or perhaps all — of 2025-26 as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon he suffered during the playoffs, the Bucks made a point to prioritize retaining a different free agent.
Charania reports that the Bucks are re-signing guard Kevin Porter Jr. on a two-season, $11 million contract. Porter, a solid downhill guard who shot well for the club from distance and emerged as a pace-changing athletic alternative even when Lillard was healthy, was brought in from a midseason deal with the Clippers.
The Bucks also already opted to retain reserve power forward/center Bobby Portis Jr. on a three-year, $44 million deal. The 29-year-old could slot into the team's starting center role to kick off the season, much as he did to end 2025, when a plodding Lopez became virtually unplayable against his much younger Indiana Pacers counterpart, Myles Turner, in the first round of the playoffs.
Losing Lopez for nothing looks, on paper at least, like a blow for Milwaukee. Again, Lopez looked every second of his age (he's 37) in that series. Although his shooting from distance remains respectable, he is no longer the fearsome All-Defensive Team rim protector he had been in his Bucks prime.
With the 48-34 Bucks last year, the 7-foot-1 Stanford product averaged 13.0 points on .509/.373/.826 shooting splits, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.8 assists a night while suiting up for 80 games.
Will this Lopez departure help inspire two-time Bucks MVP power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to demand a trade out of town at some point this offseason, with 2025-26 looking increasingly likely to be another wasted year of his prime?
Quite possibly, unless the capped-out club can extract value in a trade.