NBA Draft: Re-drafting the 2008 NBA Draft’s first round

#7 Pick – Los Angeles Clippers: Brook Lopez (Originally: Eric Gordon)

People tend to forget this, but the 3-and-D big man wasn’t always as much of a role player as he has grown accustomed to. In Brook Lopez’s years with the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, he was always one of the more dominant centers in the league.

Even in his days with the Nets, Lopez was never fully recognized for what he was doing. He put up seven seasons where he averaged 18.8 points per game or more and never shot over 15 percent from the 3-point line until the 2016-2017 season. Lopez was a tough gritty, post-up big man, which could not be more opposite from what he has reinvented himself as.

Nowadays, Lopez has adapted his game to space the floor in ways nobody saw coming. The 2018-2019 season saw his 3-point percentage at 36.5 percent on 6.3 attempts per game.

Lopez has essentially had two phases to his career; his tough back-to-the-basket career with the Nets and his stretch-five phase on the dominant Milwaukee Bucks, with a random year on a poor Los Angeles Lakers team squeezed in the middle.

Lopez has earned one All-Star appearance, but his impact during his career has been plentiful. He signed a $52 million contract which will extend him in Milwaukee till 2023. He’s panned out a great career, and it seems like his current situation places him in good standing for a potential championship.