5. Robin Lopez
- Age: 28 (Apr. 1)
- Contract: three years, $41.4 million
Robin Lopez edges out Gibson due to his age and contact length. Now, when his contract was signed, the jury was out that the Knicks severely overpaid for Lopez. However, due to an unexpected spike in the salary cap, Lopez’s contract doesn’t look all that bad. That is especially the case when looking at the way the center market played out this most recent offseason.
Hoops Habit
Robin Lopez’s trade value also gets extra points for his hilarious feud with NBA mascots.
Best case scenario, Lopez is a solid third big man on a championship-level team. He’s a guy who doesn’t have that “wow factor”, but he is a solid contributor night in and night out.
Lopez is also one of the better rim protectors in the NBA. Per rim protection data from Nylon Calculus, Robin Lopez ranked 11th in points saved per 36 minutes amongst players who played at least 1,000 minutes.
Lopez isn’t going to blow Bulls fans away by any means, but he should provide steady play for Chicago. If things totally go sideways, at least Robin Lopez will be entertaining if nothing else. Watching him bully mascots is sure to be a treat.
Next: No. 4