Brook Lopez (11) of the Brooklyn Nets puts up a shot in front of Marcin Gortat (4) of the Washington Wizards during the first half at Verizon Center on February 7, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Rob Carr, Getty Images)
Spotlight on… Brook Lopez, center, Nets
When: The March 21-27 evaluation period brought a small surprise to the table. Well, make that a large one. Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez, a skilled 7-foot center, had a breakout week deserving of The Denver Post’s NBA player of the week award.
What’s up: In four games, the 26-year-old Lopez averaged 27.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 blocked shots and one steal. He shot 61.3 percent from the field and 95 percent from the free-throw line. The Nets, who have played much better the past two weeks, won three of the four games — including a victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Background: This has been an interesting season for Lopez, a Stanford product. He opened as the Nets’ starting center, but after a back injury kept him out of eight games, he found his starting job had been taken by high-energy youngster Mason Plumlee. Lopez usually came off the bench from the end of December through the first week of March before he was reinserted into Brooklyn’s starting five. He’s been money ever since, putting up big numbers for the Nets almost every game.
Dempsey’s take: This is the Brook Lopez the Nuggets had eyes for leading up to the trade deadline — a deadly scorer on the block who blocks and alters shots on the defensive end. The Nets rebuffed all trade offers, but they could lose Lopez if he opts out of the final year of his contract this summer. Doing so would make him a coveted, unrestricted free agent, and the Nuggets could make another run at acquiring him if they’re able to clear the salary cap space needed to make that happen.
