Nets Lower Asking Price For Brook Lopez

The Nets have lowered their asking price for Brook Lopez, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter). Previously, Brooklyn was said to be seeking two first-round picks in any offer for Lopez, but the club is now open to accepting a first-rounder and a second-rounder, according to Stein.

This week’s DeMarcus Cousins deal likely cooled the market for any teams shopping an impact player. Cousins was viewed as perhaps the most talented trade candidate on the market, but the Kings only received one future first-round pick in that deal, along with a young player (Buddy Hield) and a second-round pick. As Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets, that deal has “depressed the market for everyone.”

Still, the Nets have Lopez under contract through the 2017/18 season, and have long insisted that there’s no rush to move him, so it’s unlikely that the franchise abruptly changed course in the wake of the Cousins trade. If the club is willing to lower its asking price now, it’s probably because no team was willing to meet that price even before the Cousins deal.

Prior to acquiring Cousins, the Pelicans were linked to Lopez, having reportedly offered Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, Tim Frazier, and a protected 2018 first-round pick for the Nets center. New Orleans is certainly out of the running now, however, so Brooklyn will have to look elsewhere for a trade partner. One possibility is Indiana, as the Pacers are said to be dangling a first-round pick in search of an immediate upgrade on the wing or in the frontcourt.

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