The standout free agent acquisition from their offseason, veteran big man Brook Lopez has unsurprisingly played an integral part in the Milwaukee Bucks’ success so far this year and the value he’s brought to the team on both ends of the floor hasn’t been understated.
There’s an old adage that goes what’s one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Well, there may be no better application of that maxim than to describe how veteran big man Brook Lopez has catalyzed the Milwaukee Bucks so far this season.
Of course, that directly speaks to how Lopez first arrived to Milwaukee and more specifically, how he was spurned by his hometown Los Angeles Lakers upon hitting free agency on July 1 earlier this year. Granted, Lopez had endured a career-worst season in his lone year with the Lakers as he struggled to find his place within the team’s young core after arriving the previous summer in a blockbuster deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
But as we all know, the Lakers, upon scoring superstar LeBron James on the opening evening of free agency, promptly made a flurry of additions to build up the depth around the new-look squad, which included Lopez’s replacement in the team’s starting lineup, JaVale McGee.
In a recent profile on him by Marc Stein of the New York Times published late last month, the 30-year-old admitted that the message the Lakers sent from that decision was tough on him. Enter the Bucks and we’re seeing exactly just how that might have looked, with superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo filling the shoes of James in this case.
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Plenty has been made about the individual reinvention Lopez has gone through in recent seasons by stepping behind the three-point line and firing away.
Under new Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, that element of Lopez’s services has only been further fleshed out so far this season. With 69.9 percent of his shots this season coming from beyond the arc, Lopez has connected on 37.1 percent of his 186 three-point attempts this season.
Due to that sheer volume of attempts, Lopez has been prone to having off nights shooting the ball from that level of the floor, his 0-for-12 showing during the Bucks’ Thanksgiving hangover loss to the lowly Phoenix Suns being the prime example of that.
Yet the mere value of having a seven-foot center primarily operate from long distance has made Lopez the most valuable contributor as it relates to the Bucks’ offensive success this season. Per NBA.com/stats, Lopez holds the highest offensive rating of any Bucks player at 116.3 points per 100 possessions.
For context, that number eclipses the historic offensive production last year’s Houston Rockets team put up during their 65-win season last year at 114 points per 100 possessions. The drop off without Lopez on the floor is just as evident as the Bucks are posting an offensive rating of 102.6 points per 100 possessions in the 556 minutes the 30-year-old has been on the bench.
Simply put, the difference between having Lopez on and off the floor equates to an all-time offensive unit and what would rank as the 27th offense so far this year.
Putting how integral he is to the Bucks offensively aside for a moment, Lopez’s services on the defensive end deserve a share of the spotlight as well.
Considering his athletic limitations at this stage in his career, Lopez has executed incredibly well stationed as a paint protector and it’s played into exactly how the Bucks want to operate on that end of the floor philosophically.
The Bucks have both forced the fewest shots in the restricted area and hold the best opposing field goal percentage from that spot on the floor of any team in the league so far this season. Lopez has been critical to that element of their defensive play as he’s posting a 52.2 defensive field goal percentage on the 5 shots opponents have attempted on him within 6 feet.
Overall, the Bucks have been stout defensively with Lopez on the floor, as evidenced by his 101.8 defensive rating (though, it should be noted that the Bucks have held their opponents to 101.6 points per 100 possessions when Lopez is getting rest on the bench).
Combine the value of Lopez’s defending with the hulking presence he provides boxing out crowds of opposing players to fuel the Bucks’ league-best production when it comes to cleaning up on the defensive glass and there’s simply no shortage of things to point to that explains just how essential Lopez has been to the Bucks this season.
With this serving as the baseline of his stint in Milwaukee, how Lopez adds or accents his array of talents to further complement himself next to the Bucks’ cornerstone players will be critical in determining the team’s ceiling this year.