Milwaukee Bucks: Grading their 2019 offseason

Signing Robin Lopez

After the Bucks were finished dealing with their own players, they moved into the free agency market to look for outside help.

The Bucks’ first addition in free agency this summer was Robin Lopez, whom they signed with their room exception to a two-year, $9.7 million deal.

Robin Lopez helped the Bucks to bolster the only other position on the roster that was left short of options entering the summer. Though they had retained his brother, Brook, the Bucks only had one true center on their roster entering next season. D.J. Wilson and Ersan Ilyasova could fill that role, if asked, but neither excelled at playing in that position.

Robin Lopez should provide the Bucks with real value next season. Though he’s not quite the floor-spacer that his brother is, Robin is a solid low-post scorer and screen-setter on the offensive end. He provides the Bucks a different set of skills on that end of the floor than they have with any of their other front court players. The options he opens up for them should give the team more flexibility in the half court, something that plagued them in their Eastern Conference Finals loss.

On defense, Lopez is a solid rebounder and a good rim-protector. By bringing him in, the Bucks can maintain much of what Brook provided last season on the defensive end when he goes to the bench.

The Bucks also have a way to match teams going super-big, like the Philadelphia 76ers may try to do with Al Horford and Joel Embiid, or to give teams that look themselves.

Other players may have been more exciting to bring in with the room exception here, but Robin Lopez does provide several valuable skills to this team. He could be a very important part of their team next season.