Through the Milwaukee Bucks’ shrewdest signing this offseason, the arrival of veteran big man Brook Lopez may lead to superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo flourishing even further for a variety of reasons.
As all of their offseason moves have now been minted, the Milwaukee Bucks are looking forward to what stands as a critical 2018-19 campaign, both on and off the court.
Not only will it be the team’s first inside their new, state of the art arena, the Fiserv Forum, but next season also marks the first for new head coach Mike Budenholzer, which addresses what had been increasingly become the Bucks’ biggest Achilles’ heel in recent years.
The year of firsts transfers inside the locker room where the Bucks’ most lauded signing this free agency period comes in the form of veteran big man Brook Lopez. Coming in on a one-year, $3.4 million deal, getting a center upgrade at the price of Lopez’s deal is good business all around for the team’s front office.
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Of course, Lopez’s value extends beyond the Bucks’ cap sheet and it’s where he’ll look to make his mark playing alongside the team’s superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo which could be most important.
Plenty has been made about how smooth of a frontcourt partnership Lopez and Antetokounmpo projects to be on paper, given the overlap of skills and attributes both players possess.
The leading appeal surrounding that centers around Lopez’s ongoing three-point reinvention where he’s been one of the leading examples of seven-footers adapting their game to modern NBA responsibilities.
While the returns on Lopez’s three-point shooting fall within the respectable range, seeing that he knocked down 34.5 percent of his 712 three-point attempts over the last two years, it’s more than enough to help Antetokounmpo unleash his premier scoring prowess or attract enough attention for Lopez to capitalize on open kick-out threes.
As tantalizing as the thought of Antetokounmpo being surrounded by modern NBA sensibilities and contributors stands by itself, sharing the floor with Lopez promises to benefit the 23-year-old in other areas where he has grown immensely.
Look no further than Antetokounmpo’s rebounding ability and output, which surpassed double figures last season for the first time in his five-year career.
Although Lopez’s individual production has significantly trailed off over the last couple of seasons with both the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers, the physcial presence the 30-year-old supplies in fending off the opposition on the boards can mean opportunity for someone of Antetokounmpo’s pedigree.
Per Second Spectrum’s tracking data, Lopez tallied a 49.7 contested rebounding percentage with the Lakers last season and the Lakers were a better defensive rebounding team with Lopez on the floor rather than off it, via NBA.com/stats.
Lastly, the overall offensive chemistry potential between both Lopez and Antetokounmpo can’t be understated in any capacity.
The combination of Lopez’s established inside scoring prowess and Antetokounmpo’s playmaking gives a varied, multi-dimensional offensive attack for Coach Bud and his staff to work with throughout the year.
The element that Coach Bud brings to this point shouldn’t be forgotten either as the height of his days coaching the Atlanta Hawks featured an exceptional high/low tandem between Al Horford and Paul Millsap.
And not for nothing, Lopez’s underlying facilitating gives the option to invert that particular set or look, considering he has posted triple-digit assist totals over the last few seasons between Brooklyn and Los Angeles (147 in 2015-16, 176 in 2016-17, 126 in 2017-18).
Lopez alluded to this aspect of his game and much more when asked by Hoops Hype’s Alex Kennedy about the areas he’s been honing this summer earlier this month:
"“I’m just trying to continue to improve every aspect of my game. I want to continue to be a better defender. I want to be more of a facilitator offensively, for sure. I really want to mold myself into a player that will fit super well in Coach Bud’s system and just try to be really coachable, so I can do what he needs me to do.”"
Even as Lopez is firmly in the back half of his career, Antetokounmpo’s never played alongside a center of Lopez’s wide-ranging ability. We’ll soon see what the two are capable of conjuring up when this upcoming season tips off in less than two months.