Prior to the 2017 NBA Draft last month, the Brooklyn Nets pulled the trigger on a trade that sent veteran big man Brook Lopez to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for guard D'Angelo Russell and center Timofey Mozgov.
It was a deal that caught many off-guard given that Lopez had spent his first nine years of his career with the team. During a recent interview with Kristian Winfield of SB Nation, Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson described the move as the most difficult to make since taking his position.
“Very hard. Very hard. Very hard. I thought Brook bought in 100 percent. That’s hard with a guy who’s had I don’t know how many different coaches. He embraced our culture. He was a pleasure to be around every day. That was probably the hardest decision that I’ve made being a head coach. And that’s part of being a head coach. It’s not just coaching these darn games. It’s making decisions like that with Sean. And that was the hardest because he’s a heck of a player.
But again, our timeline’s a little different. There were a lot of different reasons why we did it. But that was extremely difficult.”
Lopez has developed into the better centers in the league with the Nets and is coming off a highly productive campaign where he averaged a team-best 20.5 points per game while adding the 3-point shot to his game.
It could be argued that the 29-year-old had been Brooklyn's most consistent player over the last several seasons. His departure leaves a major void as he was their top scoring option and one of the veteran leaders in the locker room.
The Nets were able to acquire a promising point guard in Russell, who has the potential to develop into the next face of the franchise. There is an opportunity in front of him to become a perennial All-Star with the Nets as both their leading offensive scoring punch and ball handler.
That said, it's clear how much Lopez meant the organization both on an off the court over his first nine years in the league.
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