3 reasons why the Milwaukee Bucks should start Brook Lopez

The news Milwaukee Bucks fans have been waiting for, Brook Lopez is making his return to the team tonight as the Bucks take on the Utah Jazz. Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news Sunday night. The question now is, should Brook Lopez step back into the starting lineup?

The Milwaukee Bucks have 14 games remaining to get Lopez and the rest of the team, including the also returning George Hill ready for the playoffs. What is the case to be made for Lopez returning to the starting lineup?

Reasons the Milwaukee Bucks should start Brook Lopez: #1 – Conditioning

Brook Lopez has only played one game in the regular season and that was the season opener against the Brooklyn Nets. However, given the likelihood that even if Lopez isn’t starting tonight against the Jazz, he is likely to return to the starting lineup eventually. However, the Bucks only have 14 regular season games remaining to get Brook back up to speed with a few new faces he hasn’t played with much, or at all. Grayson Allen, Jevon Carter, and Serge Ibaka are the main ones.

14 games is a short period of time to get Lopez coming off the bench and then have to adjust the rotations again in a week or come playoff time should the team keep him out of the starting lineup that long. My point here is that if Lopez is going to return to the starting lineup eventually anyway, why wait? Lopez has been doing 5-on-5 work in practice and cleared for contact for over a week and has been visible in pre-game warmups for some time. Get him back in the lineup and have him, and the team, prepared for the role he is going to play.