Amid the tumultuous offseason, where many high-level talents found new homes, Robin Lopez remains under contract with the Chicago Bulls. However, in the state of today’s NBA (the arms race), does keeping the big man make sense?
There is a talent disparity in the NBA; there’s the Golden State Warriors, then there’s everybody else. You know who recognizes that talent disparity? Everyone.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the Chicago Bulls will not be in the 2018 NBA Finals. They won’t even contend for the playoffs.
With that said, they have a 29-year-old with a lot of good basketball left in him under contract for the next two seasons. Robin Lopez, who’s set to make $13.8 million in 2017-2018, the most of any player on the payroll, doesn’t really make sense for a rebuilding roster.
Robin Lopez’ status as a Bull has to be something of an elephant in the room. I know I’m not the only one who thought of it, as our friends at The Athletic wrote a similar piece on the 7-footer.
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These are the Baby Bulls again after all. Ranked the third-youngest roster in basketball, the average player being just 24.6 years old, Robin Lopez is unlikely to factor into the team’s next window of success. Furthermore, he’ll eat minutes from the still unproven Cristiano Felicio and even from the No. 7 overall pick in this year’s draft: Lauri Markkanen.
Selling RoLo, however, could be a little harder than it sounds on paper. The league is trending away from the prototypical centers, especially in the trend of the 3-point shot. It’s worth noting that Lopez is a career 0.0-percent 3-point shooter on six attempts.
You’d have to wonder if Lopez is worth more than a second-rounder to a lot of contenders. At the very most? The Bulls are probably looking at a heavily protected first-rounder.
If the value isn’t there…
There’s a lot to learn from a guy like Lopez. Entering his 10th full season of NBA basketball, his minutes value more as teaching than as earning wins.
In evaluating Lopez, you have to consider in equal parts, the player and the person.
As a player, Lopez was a key contributor on four playoff teams (one time in Phoenix and Chicago each, but twice in Portland) in addition to the rare, well-rounded game. The modern NBA thrives on offense. I probably don’t need to tell you after a season of Dwyane Wade that defense is a little dead.
Based on an average score of 100, Lopez’s 108 defensive rating is inspiring, even though it’s not a shell-shocker. In 2016, his 6.4 rebounds per contest looked pretty tough, but he averaged 1.4 blocks a night, which is pretty decent by all measures.
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Now, take Lopez as the person. In today’s media climate, where the line between politics and pop culture blend, Lopez is a beacon of responsibility. Take this tweet for example:
It's ok @warriors, in a few months @realDonaldTrump probably won't be able to visit the White House either
— Robin Lopez (@rolopez42) September 23, 2017
Good. Clean. Fun.
Keeping Lopez on the team creates a defined leader, even if he’s not the prototype of the Hoiberg model. He’s under contract for each of the next two seasons and all signs point to non-contention in Chicago. Robin Lopez has some trade value, but his teacher value might just be greater.