Our exit interview series on the 2026 Clippers continues with Brook Lopez, the backup center that received a promotion to starter mid-season with the Zubac trade.

Basic Information

Height: 7’1

Weight: 282 pounds

Position: Center

Age: 38

Years in NBA: 18

Key Regular Season Stats (for Clippers): 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 21.8 minutes per game across 75 games played (40 starts) on 42.8/36/75.7 (4.2 3PA, 1.0 FTA) shooting splits (55.2 True Shooting)

Expectations

The biggest name the Clippers added last summer was Bradley Beal, the most nostalgic addition was Chris Paul, and the highest upside new face was John Collins, but the new player a lot of Clippers’ fans were most excited about was Brook Lopez. The Clippers had cycled through a seemingly endless series of awful, bad, or at best mediocre big men since letting Isaiah Hartenstein walk in the summer of 2022, a move that haunted the Clippers for years. Brook promised to change that. A starter for almost his entire career, Brook was coming off a pretty good season for the Bucks as the third-best player on a solid playoff team. Thus, it seemed quite reasonable that with a smaller role off the bench for the Clippers behind Ivica Zubac, Brook could be a highly productive backup center contributing three-point shooting on offense and excellent rim protection on defense while still being a functional starter if Zu ever missed time.

Reality

Expectations were raised when Brook was reportedly the best player on the court for much of training camp and then played very well in preseason. Brook looked just like he did for his Bucks tenure, and his ability to score in the post, shoot from deep at high volume, and defend the paint seemed like a great fit for what the Clippers needed.

Unfortunately, Brook was a big factor in the Clippers’ early season woes. Much like Chris Paul, all of his energy and mojo from the preseason did not carry over to when the games actually mattered. Brook looked unbelievably slow, with his inability to get up and down the court playing a large role in the Clippers’ transition defense being a disaster. On offense, Brook was cold from three at the very start of the year, and even as he started heating up, he wasn’t taking enough threes to really punish defenses. Things got so bad that when the Clippers were in the middle of their worst stretch of the season, Brook was benched for six games, from November 25 to December 5. He then played a few minutes in two more games before another DNP-CD.

Brook’s season, and the Clippers’, changed on December 20, when Ivica Zubac left a game against the Lakers due to injury. Brook stepped up in a major way, playing his most minutes (24:52) of the season to beat the Lakers and break a five-game losing streak. Brook moved into the starting unit as Zu missed the next six games, and the Clippers, for the first time all season, found some rhythm, winning all five of Brook’s first starts. As silly as it was, there was some controversy about the starting spot, with certain fands wondering if Brook’s outside shooting opened up the offense enough to warrant him starting over Zu. That did not happen, and after one more start, Brook moved back to the bench when Zu returned in early January.

January was a good month for the Clippers, but Brook’s numbers were quite dreadful, averaging 4.9 points on horrendous 30.1/22.9 shooting splits. His defense was impactful, but the offense lagging meant a lot of minutes for Ivica Zubac. When Zu was traded before the deadline, Brook was moved into the starting unit. There were points when the rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser seemed to be overtaking him, but then Yanic was ruled out for the rest of the season, and Brook played huge minutes the rest of the way. Ultimately, Brook was fine the last third of the season in the starting role, with his numbers more less looking similar to those in his last couple of seasons in Milwaukee.

Brook, unfortunately, was a good example of stats not matching the eye test. When you look at his per 36 numbers, his stats from this season are actually very much in line with his later Milwaukee seasons from a pure production standpoint. However, actually watching Brook play this year was painstaking (at least for me). Him probably being the single slowest player in the NBA was torturous to see in regards to loose balls, rebounds, and transition play. There were games where he hit threes or cooked in the low post, and his defense in the paint was pretty good the last half of the season. Objectively, he was a fine rotation center. But the two-point shooting and mobility falling off a cliff was a real reason the Clippers disappointed this year, even if Brook was able to salvage his season down the stretch.

Future with Clippers

The Clippers have a team option for Brook at a little under $9.2M. Quite honestly, I have no idea whether they’ll pick it up or not. Brook was *ok* for most of the year as a backup center, and that’s not a horrible overpay for a reliable backup big man. He’s also a beloved teammate and locker room presence that the Clippers could use as they continue moving towards a younger roster. On the other hand, he’s really old and having slipped quite significantly already from the prior season, it’s very possible he’s truly unplayable next season if he loses another half-step. The Clippers will be waiting for youngster Yanic Konan Niederhauser to recover from Lisfranc surgery (he probably won’t be ready until a couple months into the season), so they’ll be short at big man if they decline Brook’s option and move on. I would rather the Clippers moved on from Brook, but I think there’s a decent chance he’s back on the team next year. If so, hopefully he’s in a much smaller role than he was this past year.

2026 Clippers Exit Interview: Brook Lopez
Robert Flom

The Clippers have won four games in a row as the 2026 NBA season draws to a close, with this contest against the Bucks being notably most for Brook Lopez’s homecoming to the city he helped win a championship for.

Game Information

Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When: 12:30 PM PT

How to Watch: NBA TV, FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Darius Garland – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Brook Lopez

Bucks: Ryan Rollins – Gary Trent Jr. – Pete Nance – Ousmane Dieng – Myles Turner

Injuries

Clippers: Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)

Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo Doubtful (Knee), Kevin Porter Jr. Out (Knee), Bobby Portis Doubtful (Wrist), Kyle Kuzma Doubtful (Achilles), Gary Harris Questionable (Groin), Thanasis Antetokounmpo Questionable (Calf)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have once again won four games in a row. Friday’s night victory over the Pacers may have been the Clippers’ ugliest of the season, but a win is a win, and at this point of the season that’s all that matters. The Clippers continue to receive stellar play from Darius Garland and Kawhi Leonard, which is the most important thing for their having any chance at all in the postseason. Friday was also notable for the Clippers being fully healthy (outside of the guys with season-ending injuries) for the first time since the trade deadline; hopefully they can continue to build reps and chemistry as the postseason approaches.

The Antagonist

The Bucks have pretty much entered full-on tanking, with around half their rotation missing yesterday’s game against the Spurs and a likely similar showing against the Clippers. The Bucks will miss the playoffs for the first time in a long time, and it’s unclear whether we will see Giannis again this season. The Bucks have very little to take out of this season, with the play of Ryan Rollins as a notable bright spot with some lesser wins in Ousmane Dieng and Jericho Sims. Whether Giannis stays after this summer or is traded, it feels like the Bucks will be rolling out a very, very different roster next season after the complete failure of this year’s squad. Even though the Bucks are playing at home and have a non-awful record, they are now in the pile of teams that the Clippers absolutely have to beat if they’re serious about keeping the 8 seed.

Notes

Brook Returns: One game after the Clippers had two major homecomings with Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson returning to Indiana, they will have another significant game with Brook Lopez playing in Milwaukee. Brook was in Milwaukee for seven years, playing in 469 games and starting 466 of those. During that time he helped the Bucks win a title in 2021, earned two All-Defense Team nominations, and played a key role in multiple other deep playoff pushes. He is a Bucks legend, and will assuredly receive an extremely warm welcome this afternoon in his first game back in front of Bucks’ fans since he left for the Clippers last summer. The video tribute will probably be pretty awesome, and I for one am excited for it.

Standings Watch: The Suns are off today, but the Warriors and Blazers are both playing. The Blazers get another cupcake game against the Wizards – though they did lose to the Mavericks on Friday, the Wizards are a different level of bad than Dallas. It feels like a lock Portland will win that one. On the other hand, the Warriors play the Nuggets in a nationally televised game to close out the NBA slate. The Nuggets have not been playing great as of late, but they are also in full desperation mode in terms of the playoff standings, so they will be going all-out to try to win. A Clippers win combined with a Warriors loss would give the Clippers a three-game edge over Golden State with just seven games to go. Not to jinx it, but that feels like a fairly safe cushion to finish above the 10 seed.

Clippers vs Bucks Preview: Brook Returns to Milwaukee
Robert Flom

Our player preview series for the 2026 Clippers closes (sorry Kobe Brown and Yanic Konan Niederhauser, you are just missing out on the cut based on my own missed deadlines) with new backup center, Brook Lopez.

Basic Information

Height: 7’1

Weight: 280 pounds

Position: Center

Age: 37

Years in NBA: 17

Stats: 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.1 turnovers in 31.8 minutes per game across 80 games played (all starts) on 50.9/37.3/82.6 shooting splits (4.7 3PA, 1.7 FTA) for 62.4 True Shooting

Contract Status: Signed a two-year, $18M contract this past offseason

Expectations

Brook comes to the Clippers with among the clearest expectations of anyone on the roster: be a competent backup center. After being a starter almost his entire career, Brook is overqualified to be a reserve, even as he heads deeper into his late 30s. One of the most experienced players in the entire league, Brook knows where to be on both ends of the court, has seen every scheme, and should help anchor the Clippers when Ivica Zubac is off the court. In terms of production, scoring of around 8-10 points per game on excellent efficiency and a handful of other stats seems reasonable.

Strengths

Brook has three strengths, and they’re all significant. First, he’s one of the very best shooting big men in the NBA, combining volume (4.7 threes attempted last year), accuracy (37.3%), and depth (will take threes well behind the line). He will instantly be the best shooting big man in Clippers’ history, that’s for sure, and that unique element will give the Clippers’ offense a new twist. His pairing with John Collins in the second unit makes particular sense, as Brook can space the floor while Collins dives to the rim. Shooting can be overrated at times, but having a true floor-spacing big man opens up the offense for everyone else and has immense value.

Second, Brook remains a strong rim protector. He’s extremely slow-footed at this point of his career, but he’s a massive, massive man even by NBA standards, and that size deters plenty of foes from even attempting shots around the basket. Brook is also extremely savvy in timing his blocks and rotations to provide maximum impact, working his way around his lack of mobility and vertical leap. There are not many players in the NBA better at deterring or blocking shots at the rim than Brook.

Finally, Brook can still cook in the post. He doesn’t get the ball there as much as he did in his days on the Nets, but his touch, size, footwork, and strength enable him to get buckets there, especially when he has mismatches against smaller defenders. When the second unit runs out of ideas on offense, there are far worse ideas than giving Brook the ball on the low block.

Weaknesses

While an extremely potent rim protector, Brook is very limited when not playing in drop coverage. His slow feet make him a prime target out on the perimeter when guarding smaller players, so you can’t switch one through five with him on the floor. Similarly, even though he’s a highly intelligent defender, there are times when he just can’t make the rotations he used to because he’s a step slow.

It must be noted that Brook is very old. He was good last year, and he looked quite good in preseason, but the bottom can fall out on NBA players at any time. His size and shooting are probably enough to keep him from becoming unplayable, but there’s a chance that an extra half step lost on both ends could severely mitigate his effectiveness. The Clippers just have to hope that last backwards slide from “rotation-caliber player” to “not a rotation-caliber player” does not happen this year.

Summary

Brook is coming to the Clippers at the end of his career, but promises the most reliable backup center play the Clippers have had in a long, long time (Isaiah Hartenstein was really good in 2022 but still figuring a few things out). A local guy who is beloved around the league for his personality, I think he will very quickly become a fan favorite in Los Angeles. I, for one, can’t wait to watch Brook combine with Chris Paul for some of the oldest pick and rolls in NBA history. There is not a ton of upside with Brook, obviously, but his steadiness on both ends will be like water in the desert for the Clippers after their backup centers of the past few years.

Clippers 2026 Player Preview: Brook Lopez
Robert Flom

The Clippers made their third move of the 2025 free agency early this evening, inking Brook Lopez to a two year, $18M deal to serve as their new backup center.

Brook has played 17 years in the NBA, making him one of the longest tenured players in the league, and has started 1065 of his 1105 career regular season games. Brook spent the last seven years in Milwaukee alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, including winning a championship in 2021, and previously played for the Lakers and Nets.

It’s hard to view this signing as anything other than a win. While Brook is old and has declined in the past few years, he still averaged 13 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game for a good Milwaukee team last year. Compared to the abysmal set of backups the Clippers have had in recent years – Moses Brown, Kai Jones, Mo Bamba, and washed Mason Plumlee notably among them – those stats look incredible.

Brook’s biggest value comes on the defensive end. He’s been one of the best rim protectors in the league for the entirety of his tenure in Milwaukee, and was still highly effective on that end last year. He’s not versatile at all on defense – he plays almost exclusively in deep drop – but he’s very good at what he does do. Moreover, the Clippers are used to playing with a big in drop coverage with Ivica Zubac, so there should not be much acclimation needed on either end. Again, compared to Zu’s recent backups, the gap on defense is as big as Mount Everest. Brook has immense experience, has played in Finals games, and knows exactly where to be on defense.

That’s not all! The Clippers have been searching for a “stretch” center for what feels like a decade (remember Spencer Hawes, anyone?), and they finally found one. Brook started taking threes nine years ago, and since then has never taken fewer than 4.0 per game in a season with his lowest mark being 31.4%. Across his seven years in Milwaukee, Brook averaged 4.7 threes attempted per game at 35.7%. Not great for a shooting guard, but for a big man, those are massive numbers. Brook draws the defense and will consistently capitalize on open looks. That’s so important for bringing a different playstyle to the table for the Clippers.

Brook’s deal is also very reasonable. He’s old, but he has only had one season (2022) in the past decade where he’s missed more than a handful of games. He’s available and he fits with the team. If he declines at all next year, he should still be a competent backup, and then his deal will be expiring. Compared to other free agent big men who signed today – Clint Capela, Kevon Looney, and Luke Kornet – I think the Clippers got the best deal in terms of years and money for quality of player.

That’s not to say Brook is perfect. He is very old for an NBA player (37), and for guys that age the cliff can come at any time. The Clippers were already old, slow, and unathletic, and Brooks just makes them more so across the board. You’d wish for more dynamic, athletic play. But that type of play (at least from competent NBA big men) was just not available in this free agent class. The most talented center available is DeAndre Ayton, and I can think of fewer guys who are a worse fit for the new Clippers culture that has been established.

At the end of the day, this is just a good signing. It might not be an A+ because of the age concerns and lack of upside, but it’s easily a B+ and probably more like an A-. Good work by the Clippers in finally, finally getting a competent backup for Ivica Zubac.

Clippers Sign Brook Lopez To Two-Year Deal as Backup Center
Robert Flom