The obvious free agency addition that actually makes no sense for the Lakers

Brook Lopez has stuck around in the NBA for 17 years, remaining productive and reliable for the entirety of his career. Why would a team not want that kind of player on their roster?

The 37-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent in the 2025 offseason. The Milwaukee Bucks center may be among the best names in free agency that the Los Angeles Lakers can acquire to fill the void in the frontcourt.

Jake Fischer wrote back in mid-May, "With [Myles] Turner seemingly destined to stay with the [Indiana] Pacers, Los Angeles' options in free agency would appear to be pretty limited in free agency beyond veterans such as Brook Lopez and Clint Capela."

Fischer went onto explain the Lakers would be better off going to the trade route to address the need up front. Lopez will stick out like a sore thumb as a name to consider for Rob Pelinka. However, the obvious decision would be the wrong one for the Lakers.

Numerous reasons explain why Lopez should be avoided by the Lakers

For starters, the previously-mentioned age of Lopez would make it obvious that this would be a shortsighted move. In theory, this can be justified at first.

The Lakers want to be in a championship window while they have Luka Doncic and LeBron James in the mix. However, locking up Lopez at the expense of their $5.7 million non-tax midlevel exception would kill their shot to acquire a player who can have much more long-term impact in Los Angeles.

The only circumstances under which Pelinka should seriously consider adding the former NBA champion would be a veteran minimum. If that were the case, there is reason to consider the move. Despite that, there are still concerns here even past the financial aspects of the move.

Lopez's subpar rebounding would not helping alleviate the pressure on the boards that currently belongs to Doncic and James. The Bucks big man only pulled down 5.0 rebounds per game in 31.8 minutes a night during his 80 games started in 2024-25.

The 1.9 blocks per game should also not fool anyone with regard to Lopez's quality as a defender. Once a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, the former top 10 pick has posted back-to-back seasons of a 114 defensive rating per 100 possessions.

For context, this year's winner of Defensive Player of the Year, Evan Mobley, registered 108. Doncic's mark was 112.

The Bucks roster is far from perfect and swapping out Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard certainly hurt, but Milwaukee has finished outside of the top 10 defenses in the league for two years in a row now. They ranked 12th this season, which was actually an improvement on being 19th in 2023-24.

The takeaway here is that Lopez is far from the defensive anchor he once was. The veteran big man was all but played off the court against the Indiana Pacers too.

Lopez only averaged 5.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 14.8 minutes per game during the Bucks' five-game exit in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Shooting 36.4 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc was equally troubling.

The idea of who Lopez has been throughout his career far outweighs the player who stands before everyone today. Even with a desperate need at the position, the Lakers should back away.