Daily Knicks
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7 Knicks free agent targets with ties to Julius Randle

By Josh Cornelissen

Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and D'Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and D'Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images /
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New York Knicks
Brook Lopez, Milwaukee Bucks. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) – New York Knicks /

Knicks Free Agent Target No. 2: Brook Lopez, Center

The Milwaukee Bucks had one of the league’s best defenses yet again this season, with a seven-foot mountain at the center protecting the rim as well as anyone in the league. Brook Lopez finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season with a career year on both ends of the court. So why is he on this list? Because there is a very real possibility that Lopez will not be returning to the Milwaukee Bucks this summer.

The Bucks were just destroyed in the first round of the playoffs by the Miami Heat, they fired their head coach, and are starting down the barrel of a gargantuan luxury tax payment and future team-building penalties if they re-sign Lopez and Khris Middleton this summer to massive deals. If they lowball Lopez due to his age or that pending financial crunch, he could look elsewhere for a landing spot.

The New York Knicks don’t need a center, but they should look into the possibility; they could always move Mitchell Robinson or Isaiah Hartenstein. If Lopez is available for the MLE the Knicks could suddenly have one of the best paint defenders in the sport manning the middle, and offensively “Splash Mountain” can stretch the floor in a way very unlike any of the centers on the team now.

Lopez has completely reinvented himself since the last time he played on the East Coast, making an All-Star team with the Brooklyn Nets as an interior bruiser. He went to the Lakers next, where he played alongside Julius Randle and started to add a three-point shot. It all came together in Milwaukee, and any team signing Lopez would have one of the best two-way centers in the league.