Milwaukee Bucks: Grades for Robin Lopez’s two-year, $9.7 million deal
By Adam McGee
Fit
Brook and Robin are very different players in large part due to the way their roles have evolved over the years, and the elements of the game each has respectively turned their attention to. Having said that, there are very obvious similarities present too, and the Bucks will undoubtedly look to make the most of them.
Robin is an ideal fit for the dropping defensive scheme that allowed the Bucks’ to be the best defensive team in the NBA last season. Much like Brook, Robin will be perfectly comfortable sagging back in what can occasionally be a free role on defense, reading the action that plays out in front of him, and then positioning himself to contest and block shots at the rim.
If Brook misses any time, or even in minutes when he takes a seat on the bench, the Bucks can now feel confident of the fact there’ll be no drop-off in their defense. If anything, Robin has the potential to perform even better than his brother in that role.
Where Lopez’s fit is really interesting, and less apparent, though is on the offensive side. Unlike Brook, Robin doesn’t arrive in Milwaukee as an accomplished and willing floor spacing big. To this point, the majority of his offensive play has come in a much more traditional sense from no further from the rim than the free throw line.
Robin’s elite screen-setting will have value in its own right in terms of creating open shots or open lanes for teammates to drive into, and perhaps he can even find an extra gear of success by picking his moments to dive toward the rim out of the pick-and-roll.
The wildcard is whether Robin will be pushed to shoot the long-ball too. Robin has made 11 triples in the past two seasons, having never previously made one over the first nine seasons of his NBA career.
Lopez has made over 70 percent of his free throws in every season of his career other than his rookie campaign, and can knock down shots from the mid-range. There likely won’t be anything close to the dramatic let it fly approach Milwaukee employed with Brook, but I’d expect Robin to be asked to take more shots from distance, and it certainly isn’t entirely beyond him to become an average shooter from beyond the arc.