Report: Brook Lopez could return to Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers’ roster is taking shape now that LeBron James has officially announced his decision.

In addition to James signing with the Lakers, the team has re-signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. It’s an interesting decision for the purple and gold to use a significant park of their salary cap space ($12 million) on KCP, and it may limit their ability to bring in a second star.

Accordingly, Keith Smith reports that Brook Lopez is a good bet to return to the Lakers and that the team is less likely to be able to afford big man DeMarcus Cousins now.

Hearing Brook Lopez is a good bet to return to the Lakers. LA probably out of the running for DeMarcus Cousins after using a good amount of cap space to retain Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 2, 2018

The Lakers were previously said to have interest in Cousins.

Lopez came to the Lakers last season after being traded in the D’Angelo Russell deal. He indicated in April that he was open to both a pay cut and a return to the Lakers.

Brook Lopez open to the idea of coming back at a reduced salary if he felt the Lakers were in a position to win a title next yr

— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) April 12, 2018

Now that they have LeBron in the mix, that could be enough for Lopez to take a discount.