Wizards sign Robin Lopez

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

One thing I do like about Lopez is his schtick with G-wiz.

Absolutely hilarious.

[Ed Wood]

The IT debacle, stunting the growth of some of our young core. Then trading him for a longer contract guy who is also a meh performer, instead of just cutting him.

I really don't agree with this framing of the Thomas signing and trade at all. I don't especially like Thomas (even fair weather IT) because he is such a phenomenally bad defensive player, but the team didn't really have young guards on the roster for him to steal minutes from (arguably Matthews and Troy Brown - but I'm skeptical that his absence funnels his minutes directly to TB entirely to TB's benefit). He's not exactly a player to emulate defensively, but otherwise he's just kind of an average guard in terms of passing and what-have-you, I don't think people were forgetting how to play while he was here.

I think it was assumed/hoped at the time of his signing that the intended arc of his time in Washington was to make him look plausibly like a veteran bottled offense guy and then flip him for an asset. Unfortunately (and maybe foreseeably, which does inform your view of the gamble) IT ended up looking closer to done than to an offensive force. Nevertheless, he was moved for a (fringy) prospect. It's likely that Robinson will manage to be a back end roster guy at most, but given the lack of talent on the roster as it exited the Grunfeld era, that's the kind of recycling attempt that I think is perfectly reasonable to attempt.

[nate33]

The IT debacle, stunting the growth of some of our young core. Then trading him for a longer contract guy who is also a meh performer, instead of just cutting him.

I really don't agree with this framing of the Thomas signing and trade at all. I don't especially like Thomas (even fair weather IT) because he is such a phenomenally bad defensive player, but the team didn't really have young guards on the roster for him to steal minutes from (arguably Matthews and Troy Brown - but I'm skeptical that his absence funnels his minutes directly to TB entirely to TB's benefit). He's not exactly a player to emulate defensively, but otherwise he's just kind of an average guard in terms of passing and what-have-you, I don't think people were forgetting how to play while he was here.

I think it was assumed/hoped at the time of his signing that the intended arc of his time in Washington was to make him look plausibly like a veteran bottled offense guy and then flip him for an asset. Unfortunately (and maybe foreseeably, which does inform your view of the gamble) IT ended up looking closer to done than to an offensive force. Nevertheless, he was moved for a (fringy) prospect. It's likely that Robinson will manage to be a back end roster guy at most, but given the lack of talent on the roster as it exited the Grunfeld era, that's the kind of recycling attempt that I think is perfectly reasonable to attempt.

Yup. We only had Ish Smith at the time we acquired IT. We had no assets whatsoever to utilize to acquire another PG. It was worth a shot to see if IT could come back as some semblance of his former self, at least as a guy who can create a little offense and take some of the pressure off of Beal. We all knew he would be awful on defense, but as doc says, that was a stealth tanking strategy anyhow.

I didn't have a problem with the move. It was worth a shot. I think Brooks took way too long to recognize that Thomas no longer had it, but I think he was trying to do the right thing and give the veteran a chance.

[pcbothwel]

Hmm, it’s almost like Sheppard studied for years under the tutelage of Ernie Grunfeld and has inherited his most glaring weaknesses.

It’s almost as if fans of the team saw this coming a mile away and an organization that is mired in failure and embarrassment continues to dig themselves deeper into the bottomless pit.

I said this on draft night and I will just repeat that Ernie never left. Tommy is Ernie.

One thing to look deeper at... Compare the parallels of Robin to his brother Brook.
Both were fairly good players the first 7-8 years of their career with very similar stats. Brook was a little better/more skilled, but Robin was no slouch.

https://stathead.com/tiny/cmdRg

Very similar Until 16/17... Kenny Atkinson was hired as the coach of the Nets and Brook went from 31 3PA over his first 8 years total to 387 that Year !!!!
Thats when Brook reinvented himself. He shot 31 3PA in his first 8 years to over 1500 in the next 4 years... hitting them at a 35% rate.

Contrary to that, Robin got caught up in the terribly dysfunctional Hoiberg-Bulls era for 3 years before getting to Milwaukee with his brother last year.
While his stats look bad, Coach Bud really put him in a bad spot by having him revamp his game very fast with very little leash/minutes to do so.

Its very possible that Robin is a bit more comfortable with that corner 3 now and will be able to be a nice backup for a year.

[doclinkin]

The IT debacle, stunting the growth of some of our young core. Then trading him for a longer contract guy who is also a meh performer, instead of just cutting him.

I really don't agree with this framing of the Thomas signing and trade at all. I don't especially like Thomas (even fair weather IT) because he is such a phenomenally bad defensive player, but the team didn't really have young guards on the roster for him to steal minutes from (arguably Matthews and Troy Brown - but I'm skeptical that his absence funnels his minutes directly to TB entirely to TB's benefit). He's not exactly a player to emulate defensively, but otherwise he's just kind of an average guard in terms of passing and what-have-you, I don't think people were forgetting how to play while he was here.

Not the guards, he was terrible for the development of the Bigs. Rui and Bryant. Both played much better when they were not playing with a gunning undersized attack guard trying to play hero ball to resuscitate his glory days. On offense once we had a Napier/Ish combo suddenly both realized what they could do when someone actually passed to them. On defense we had nothing like a functional plan with him on the court and Bryant in particular lost confidence and looked out of place on every play because of breakdowns on the outside. Both played better when he was gone. It is tough to emphasize defense and accountability, then play IT starters minutes when he didn't even try on that side of the ball. What is the lesson you are teaching? Hero ball is what earns you play time? Vs Team play on both ends. Bigs are pass dependent players. IT going 1-on-5 stunts their development. Yeah we had no guards behind Brad. And chose IT for cheap to see what he had in the tank. Fact is it became pretty clear he had nothing in the tank. But that also goes to the negative on Tommy's scorecard. The franvhose out of all of them ought to know the dangers of not having good depth at gaurd and having to over play starters. I would have much rather cut IT early and found minutes for Garrison Mathews. Or hell, Jemerrio Jones even if he couldn't score. Or gotten Shabazz earlier if that deal was available. Or I dunno, pick a G league player. Josh Magette.

[LyricalRico]

Not feeling this one.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

The IT debacle, stunting the growth of some of our young core. Then trading him for a longer contract guy who is also a meh performer, instead of just cutting him.

I really don't agree with this framing of the Thomas signing and trade at all. I don't especially like Thomas (even fair weather IT) because he is such a phenomenally bad defensive player, but the team didn't really have young guards on the roster for him to steal minutes from (arguably Matthews and Troy Brown - but I'm skeptical that his absence funnels his minutes directly to TB entirely to TB's benefit). He's not exactly a player to emulate defensively, but otherwise he's just kind of an average guard in terms of passing and what-have-you, I don't think people were forgetting how to play while he was here.

Not the guards, he was terrible for the development of the Bigs. Rui and Bryant. Both played much better when they were not playing with a gunning undersized attack guard trying to play hero ball to resuscitate his glory days. On offense once we had a Napier/Ish combo suddenly both realized what they could do when someone actually passed to them. On defense we had nothing like a functional plan with him on the court and Bryant in particular lost confidence and looked out of place on every play because of breakdowns on the outside. Both played better when he was gone. It is tough to emphasize defense and accountability, then play IT starters minutes when he didn't even try on that side of the ball. What is the lesson you are teaching? Hero ball is what earns you play time? Vs Team play on both ends. Bigs are pass dependent players. IT going 1-on-5 stunts thier development. Yeah we had no guards behind Brad. And chose IT for cheap to see what he had in the tank. Fact is it became pretty clear he had nothing in the tank. But that also goes to the negative on Tommy's scorecard. The franvhose out of all of them ought to know the dangers of not having good depth at gaurd and having to over play starters. I would have much rather cut IT early and found minutes for Garrison Mathews. Or hell, Jemerrio Jones even if he couldn't score. Or gotten Shabazz earlier if that deal was available. Or I dunno, pick a G league player. Josh Magette.

Or Jerian Grant who was left to toil away all season on the Go Go.

[doclinkin]

Yeah. Him.

[Shoe]

Hmm, it’s almost like Sheppard studied for years under the tutelage of Ernie Grunfeld and has inherited his most glaring weaknesses.

It’s almost as if fans of the team saw this coming a mile away and an organization that is mired in failure and embarrassment continues to dig themselves deeper into the bottomless pit.

I said this on draft night and I will just repeat that Ernie never left. Tommy is Ernie.

Hmm, it's almost like they work for the same owner who wants to make the playoffs every year. Ernie was awful at building a team for the future while trying to look competitive. Tommy is way more measured at combining both.

Doesn't Tommy have only 1 year left on his contract people??? I know everyone here would tell their boss signing their 7 figure check to F off we're running the team a different way.

[Kanyewest]

Read on Twitter

I would definitely have preferred this to the Lopez signing. If we decided that we didn't want him in future years, he is tradeable at that price.

Im sure many would agree with you. However, he was an RFA like Bryant last year and took the deal on the table.

Also the only reason the Spurs have him is that they got him in the Kawhi/Green package. I don't think he would have left even if Washington offered the full MLE.

[TGW]

Noel signed with the freakin Knicks for one year, 5 mil. Wtf...

[payitforward]

There's nothing whatever one can say that would justify signing Robin Lopez. But, it's done. Let's hope some other decisions work out better.

I just wish I had some sense of what Tommy's intentions are, what his plan is.

[Dark Faze]

There's nothing whatever one can say that would justify signing Robin Lopez. But, it's done. Let's hope some other decisions work out better.

I just wish I had some sense of what Tommy's intentions are, what his plan is.

It's very simple. He's Ernie Grunfeld. Except with the understanding that he has to occasionally do some things such that he doesn't *appear* to be Ernie Grunfeld.

If you told Ernie to improve the team *without* mortgaging the future in the process, this is exacty the kind of bizarre off-season you'd expect.

[closg00]

Man I HATE this signing given the pennies we have to spend on FA's.

[WallToWall]

If this is Tommy's "hit the ball out of the park" move for the year, then its a fail. The $$ may have been better spent, I think.

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

[badinage]

I don’t understand.

Lots of bitching all season about interior defense, Bryant can’t protect the paint, Rui doesn’t play big, etc., and now they add Robin Lopez.* For not much money. And for a very short contract.

*https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/briansampson/2020/06/12/bucks-film-room-dont-sleep-on-robin-lopez-defense/amp/

[WizarDynasty]

I am down with Lopez!! This feel like a high level Beal move. In Beal and Leonsis we Trust!!

[DCZards]

I don’t understand.

Lots of bitching all season about interior defense, Bryant can’t protect the paint, Rui doesn’t play big, etc., and now they add Robin Lopez.* For not much money. And for a very short contract.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/briansampson/2020/06/12/bucks-film-room-dont-sleep-on-robin-lopez-defense/amp/

From the link above:

He (Robin Lopez) makes life difficult for anybody trying to score around the rim; contesting 22.7 shots per 36 minutes—the second-highest in the NBA. Rudy Gobert is all the way down at 17.1 contested shots. These stats may be a bit padded considering the Bucks’ defensive scheme relies on their bigs to defend the rim at all costs.

Not only does he contest a lot of shots, but he’s damn good at it as well. Among the 52 centers who defend at least seven shots per game, he’s tied with Kristaps Porzingis and Hassan Whiteside for 14th in field goal percentage allowed at 45 percent. That’s better than defensive stalwarts like Myles Turner, Steven Adams and Joel Embiid.

Lopez gives the Bucks the ability to play 48 minutes with a great defensive center on the court—something most other teams can’t say. Don’t sleep on his impact off the bench.

[closg00]

I don’t understand.

Lots of bitching all season about interior defense, Bryant can’t protect the paint, Rui doesn’t play big, etc., and now they add Robin Lopez.* For not much money. And for a very short contract.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/briansampson/2020/06/12/bucks-film-room-dont-sleep-on-robin-lopez-defense/amp/

From the link above:

He (Robin Lopez) makes life difficult for anybody trying to score around the rim; contesting 22.7 shots per 36 minutes—the second-highest in the NBA. Rudy Gobert is all the way down at 17.1 contested shots. These stats may be a bit padded considering the Bucks’ defensive scheme relies on their bigs to defend the rim at all costs.

Not only does he contest a lot of shots, but he’s damn good at it as well. Among the 52 centers who defend at least seven shots per game, he’s tied with Kristaps Porzingis and Hassan Whiteside for 14th in field goal percentage allowed at 45 percent. That’s better than defensive stalwarts like Myles Turner, Steven Adams and Joel Embiid.

Lopez gives the Bucks the ability to play 48 minutes with a great defensive center on the court—something most other teams can’t say. Don’t sleep on his impact off the bench.

Don't like the coin, but he will defend the rim, no-doubt

[Ruzious]

I think Lopez used to be a good interior defender. After watching the playoffs, I don't think he's a good interior defender anymore. And I do know that his production stats took an enormous drop last season - at age 31/32. Some might say that's a bad sign. And look at his rebounding. It's been going down badly for the last 3 seasons and was 6.1 per 40 minutes last season. That's mediocre for a small forward - absolutely pathetic for a center who has no positional versatility - and we're already a poor rebounding team. So even if he makes a good defensive play, he's likely giving up an easy put-back. There's no value in that.

Great - he made 1/3 of his 3's - that nobody guarded him on. If he's not stretching the defense, making 1/3 of your 3's isn't really helping the team.

I'm not being negative for the sake of being negative. I don't want him to be a bad signing, but he was, and it's obvious.