Profile: New Bull Robin Lopez

The Chicago Bulls traded Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks this week, in return they received new Bull Robin Lopez along with Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon.

This will provide a look at one of the three players that the Bulls are receiving in the Derrick Rose trade now that the deal has been finalized and no further movements were made on draft night.

Player: Robin Lopez

Position: Center

Remaining Contract:

2016-17 $13,500,000
2017-18 $14,000,000
2018-19 $14,500,000

This is the biggest chunk of change that the Bulls picked up in the trade. Lopez is entering on his first big NBA contract and has a slight year-over-year escalation in his salary, but the same point that I’ve been preaching through these player profiles stands – it is a new NBA and this is a slightly below market value contract given that reality.

The hardest thing for the average fan to grasp is that $14 million doesn’t mean to the salary cap or player values what it once did. In 2016-17, you can field a full starting five at that salary and still have enough cap space left to sign at least your sixth man, possibly the seventh guy on your depth chart before getting into veteran minimums. The league really is changing on the money front.

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As a center, Lopez is one of the better defensive bigs in the game right now. According to the excellent rim protection data from Nylon Calculus, Lopez rates out as one of the best frontcourt players in the entire league on defense. He’s in the top 15 centers in the league for points saved rates out very highly among all power forwards and centers for points saved per game at 0.97.

He has been particularly healthy over the past four seasons, playing the full 82-game schedule in three of those years. His careers per 36 numbers have him scoring 13.8 points, grabbing 8.8 rebounds, swatting 2.1 shots per game.

Lopez is essentially a traditional center who fills the lane, deters shots and doesn’t stray away from the basket. He doesn’t shoot 3-pointers, but did shoot 79.5 percent on free throws last year.

Role for Bulls: Starting Center

Pau Gasol is going to opt out of his contract and Noah has made it perfectly clear he won’t be back in Chicago. That leaves the Bulls with precisely zero players capable of starting at center. Enter Lopez.

Robin is going to fill in the role of starting center quite nicely. He’s younger than either Gasol or Noah. Also, he’s healthier and an overall better player that either soon-to-be ex-Bulls. He is team controlled for three more seasons at about 50 percent of the salary that Noah is being offered. No matter what Gasol is going to get on the market, it isn’t a right move for the Bulls. Gasol is significantly older than either Noah or Lopez who is just 28-years-old.

Next: Derrick Rose, Thank You and Goodbye

Lopez was a pleasant surprise in return for Rose. Clearly, the Knicks either intend to pursue Noah or some similar center in free agency to make Robin available. He is a traditional center who offers something the rest of the new-look Bulls roster doesn’t have a clue about – defensive ability. His health, current skill level and contract are superior to the outgoing Bulls big man and he’s much cheaper and a better teammate option than chasing a player like Dwight Howard.

This option wasn’t even on the radar at the beginning of the week and it went from non-existent to the answer. This allows the Bulls to completely bypass the overpriced free agent market for big men and secures the services of a player better than a Bismack Biyombo or Ian Mahinmi on a contract that will be equal to or less than what most centers will get on the market this summer. Great move by the Bulls, securing the next starting center for Chicago.

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