Brook Lopez has signed a 1-year $3.4 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks immediately improving their frontcourt’s outside shooting and further complicating the frontcourt situation for the Los Angeles Lakers after they lost Julian Randle to the New Orleans Pelicans.
With Randle having joined the Pelicans on a 2-year $18 million contract the Lakers are now left just with JaVale McGee, Ivica Zubac, and first-round pick Moritz Wagner.
But Lopez is a steal for the Bucks, who get a solid starting center whose stock lost value after a rough stint in Los Angeles. Lopez, however, is a lot better than what his stats show.
Lopez will be asked to fill the starting center spot in Milwaukee and he should help right away providing space for the Bucks guards and for power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to operate.
With Lopez attracting the attention of the opposing big bodies, guys like Eric Bledsoe and Giannis should have more freedom to roam inside the paint and get easy points near the rim.
Lopez is also good at the pick-and-pop and is a solid pick-and-roll player as well. He has a nice little push shot that he makes a lot near the free throw line and he also has an awesome post up move that he uses at times as well.
He’s a very versatile scorer for a big guy and he should get a ton of easy buckets off of Antetokounmpo’s passes.
On defense Lopez is a very good rim protector as he has great timing when blocking shots. His one big weakness on defense is that he’s below average defending pick and rolls as he has very slow foot speed and reaction time, which allows quick players to slide past him to get easy buckets in the paint.
As a consequence, expect the Bucks to avoid getting Lopez caught in a lot of pick-and-roll situations. Should they accomplish that task he can definitely be an asset on defense.
Overall, this is a great acquisition for the Bucks that should help them make the playoffs again, where he could shine and help his own stock rise after a rough season with the Lakers.
