Robin Lopez Should Be A Priority Re-Sign in Free Agency

[mhd]

I'd say our biggest priorities are, in order:

backup combo guard who can create for himself and others
3&D wing with emphasis on the "3" part
3rd string center

Hopefully, we can fill one of those first two priorities in the draft. The other will require a fairly big chunk of free agency money. That leaves relatively little for our 3rd string center, making Lopez a luxury we probably can't afford unless we want to pay the luxtax.

We need to trade Bryant. I've never been a fan of his. He's very selfish on the court (ALWAYS shoots it when he gets the ball) and is a horrific defender. Bryant for Sato would be great, but the Bulls have no need for Bryant (unless they want a backup center). Off to the trade checker!

I totally disagree with calling him selfish. Bryant has had an impressive assist rate for a center, particularly such a young center. He led all of our bigs in assists per minute in each of his first two seasons, and posted a higher assist rate than all but one of Gortat's seasons.

I think one of the subtly better aspects of his game is his ability to see the court and make the right play. Not many under 23-year-old centers show that sophistication.

I understand the criticism of his defense, but it's pretty damn hard to criticize Bryant's offense.

I'm talking about team ball. Bryant this year jacked it up every time he touched the ball. He never the let offense settle and run something. I think he's complete fools gold. I'd rather have Gafford as a center giving it all for 24-30 MPG, and cheap solid vet centers as the backup. Robin Lopez is so much better at an overall game than Bryant is. Lopez dominates backup bigs, plays team ball and team defense. Trading Bryant for a vet caliber backup wing/guard would be a dream.

[Ruzious]

We need to trade Bryant. I've never been a fan of his. He's very selfish on the court (ALWAYS shoots it when he gets the ball) and is a horrific defender. Bryant for Sato would be great, but the Bulls have no need for Bryant (unless they want a backup center). Off to the trade checker!

I totally disagree with calling him selfish. Bryant has had an impressive assist rate for a center, particularly such a young center. He led all of our bigs in assists per minute in each of his first two seasons, and posted a higher assist rate than all but one of Gortat's seasons.

I think one of the subtly better aspects of his game is his ability to see the court and make the right play. Not many under 23-year-old centers show that sophistication.

I understand the criticism of his defense, but it's pretty damn hard to criticize Bryant's offense.

I'm talking about team ball. Bryant this year jacked it up every time he touched the ball. He never the let offense settle and run something. I think he's complete fools gold. I'd rather have Gafford as a center giving it all for 24-30 MPG, and cheap solid vet centers as the backup. Robin Lopez is so much better at an overall game than Bryant is. Lopez dominates backup bigs, plays team ball and team defense. Trading Bryant for a vet caliber backup wing/guard would be a dream.

Not sure how you can complain about Bryant's shot selection when he made 71% of his 2's and 42.9% of his 3's. He also had more assists than RoLo per 36 - as he has every season of his career. Fool's gold? Nah. Not on offense. Not to mention, TB's got a really low turnover rate.

[nate33]

I totally disagree with calling him selfish. Bryant has had an impressive assist rate for a center, particularly such a young center. He led all of our bigs in assists per minute in each of his first two seasons, and posted a higher assist rate than all but one of Gortat's seasons.

I think one of the subtly better aspects of his game is his ability to see the court and make the right play. Not many under 23-year-old centers show that sophistication.

I understand the criticism of his defense, but it's pretty damn hard to criticize Bryant's offense.

I'm talking about team ball. Bryant this year jacked it up every time he touched the ball. He never the let offense settle and run something. I think he's complete fools gold. I'd rather have Gafford as a center giving it all for 24-30 MPG, and cheap solid vet centers as the backup. Robin Lopez is so much better at an overall game than Bryant is. Lopez dominates backup bigs, plays team ball and team defense. Trading Bryant for a vet caliber backup wing/guard would be a dream.

Not sure how you can complain about Bryant's shot selection when he made 71% of his 2's and 42.9% of his 3's. He also had more assists than RoLo per 36 - as he has every season of his career. Fool's gold? Nah. Not on offense. Not to mention, TB's got a really low turnover rate.

Agreed. I absolutely would not characterize Bryant's propensity to "jack it up" as a negative. I think that he is "decisive". He either shoots immediately because the play has generated the necessary spacing to get his shot off, or he passes it back to the guard and tries again. You almost never see him hesitate, or pump fake into a worse shot, or force a really off-balance shot. For him, it's a binary decision. If he is open enough to shoot, he shoots (with high efficiency), if not, he gives it up.

[DCZards]

"Selfish" is probably the last word I'd use to describe Bryant. He's always struck as a team player who gives max effort. I don't buy this argument that he stops the flow of the offense when he's in the game.

TB has his flaws but being selfish is not one of them.

[pancakes3]

TB does shoot it whenever he gets the ball but that's his job. he's also not the playmaker. It's like complaining that Bertans shoots it every time he gets the ball - they're SUPPOSED to. They're not the focal point of the offense. TB isn't posting up like Duncan or Shaq, shifting the defense, and dictates how the offense runs. They're beneficiaries of penetrating guards who get open shots for TB, Bertans, Rui, etc.

[queridiculo]

I wouldn't mind bringing back Lopez, but if it comes down to being able to use the full MLE to address the small forward spot and the team refuses to go into luxury space, I'd rather they focus their resource on a position other than center.

Gafford, Bryant, Len would be good enough for me, although Lopez would obviously be the best option to pair up with the two young centers.

[doclinkin]

TB does shoot it whenever he gets the ball but that's his job. he's also not the playmaker. It's like complaining that Bertans shoots it every time he gets the ball - they're SUPPOSED to. They're not the focal point of the offense. TB isn't posting up like Duncan or Shaq, shifting the defense, and dictates how the offense runs. They're beneficiaries of penetrating guards who get open shots for TB, Bertans, Rui, etc.

Right, this is why I envision Bryant as a sub for Bertans, effectively. Defensively neither should be on the floor while the other is playing. But with Gafford down low, perhaps we can start Bertans. I think Bryant works better as a match-up Big, instant offense off the bench, and a spark plug for the 2nd unit, more so than a starter. He does not deter penetration so starting guards get any interior shot they want. With his high center of gravity he bounces off of true Bigs if they want to establish position down low. But with his energy level, he can be a disruptive force on opponent 2nd line units. He allows us on offense to play Big and stretch the floor when his outside shot is hitting. He will put up some gaudy numbers on a 2nd unit. Big offensive numbers generate interest and command a better deal if other teams are looking at a trade or a throw in on a star package. I like Bryant on offense though, even if he zeroes out in his plus minus at the other end. Maybe he gets better though on defense. Never know.

[J-Ves]

I’d prioritize signing Mathews and Neto over Lopez. Next year Gaff and Bryant are under contract, so the third center figures to be a min contract guy. If Lopez is willing to sign for that or slightly more then he can be back. I’d prefer to use the MLE on a wing.

[payitforward]

I'd say our biggest priorities are, in order:

backup combo guard who can create for himself and others
3&D wing with emphasis on the "3" part
3rd string center

Hopefully, we can fill one of those first two priorities in the draft. The other will require a fairly big chunk of free agency money. That leaves relatively little for our 3rd string center, making Lopez a luxury we probably can't afford unless we want to pay the luxtax.

We need to trade Bryant. I've never been a fan of his. He's very selfish on the court (ALWAYS shoots it when he gets the ball) and is a horrific defender. Bryant for Sato would be great, but the Bulls have no need for Bryant (unless they want a backup center). Off to the trade checker!

I totally disagree with calling him selfish. Bryant has had an impressive assist rate for a center, particularly such a young center. He led all of our bigs in assists per minute in each of his first two seasons, and posted a higher assist rate than all but one of Gortat's seasons.

I think one of the subtly better aspects of his game is his ability to see the court and make the right play. Not many under 23-year-old centers show that sophistication.

I understand the criticism of his defense, but it's pretty damn hard to criticize Bryant's offense.

Well said, nate! Worth mentioning his effort as well.

& even with his defensive flaws, it would be hard to acquire a Center as good as Bryant overall for the $$ we pay him.

[9 and 20]

Love Lopez and I think he's probably the most fun player on the team to watch play basketball. But yeah - bringing him back for the MLE or close to it would be a Grunfeld move. Doubling down, rather than pocketing your winnings. Grunfeld did that repeatedly - Martell Webster ended up getting paid like $30 mil for one good season, I think. It's (kind of) worked out with Bertans so far, but he needs to stay effective for four more years.

[queridiculo]

Love Lopez and I think he's probably the most fun player on the team to watch play basketball. But yeah - bringing him back for the MLE or close to it would be a Grunfeld move. Doubling down, rather than pocketing your winnings. Grunfeld did that repeatedly - Martell Webster ended up getting paid like $30 mil for one good season, I think. It's (kind of) worked out with Bertans so far, but he needs to stay effective for four more years.

I believe the Wizards would have bird rights on Lopez, so as long as the Wizards are willing to pay the man, what do I care how much he's making?

Judging by how Leonsis conducts his business however, I very much doubt that the team is going to be willing to go beyond that luxury tax threshold to keep this iteration of the Wizards intact.

[Dat2U]

First Wagner, then Len, now Lopez. Yall just wanna keep and pay everybody!

There's a decent number of Cs who can be productive but they have limited value & utility if they can't defend the pick & roll because there's always an open shot that comes from it. Its part of the reason why we horrible until Gafford showed up and things took off once he entered the rotation. . Lopez for all the hook shot wizardry ain't impacting wins and losses.

[nate33]

First Wagner, then Len, now Lopez. Yall just wanna keep and pay everybody!

There's a decent number of Cs who can be productive but they have limited value & utility if they can't defend the pick & roll because there's always an open shot that comes from it. Its part of the reason why we horrible until Gafford showed up and things took off once he entered the rotation. . Lopez for all the hook shot wizardry ain't impacting wins and losses.

Finding centers that are agile enough to guard the pick-and-roll and strong enough to defend guys like Embiid and Valanciunas is a tall order. If you have a guy like that, he is definitely a starter. Gafford looks like he might be that guy.

But once you have a guy like that, you still need a couple of backups. I think the ideal scenario is to have one backup who is a big behemoth who can help guard the big post-up centers and maybe score some in the post, and the other guy be a quicker guy who can defend pick and roll (but is probably a bit undersized, which is why he is an affordable backup) and hopefully shoot a little. You can then utilize either guy, depending on the matchup.

Lopez is a good prototype for the big backup center. A guy like Chris Boucher or Nicolas Claxton would be ideal for the mobile backup center.

At the moment, we already have Bryant under contract as a backup center. He is problematic defensively because he is neither a strong post defender or an agile pick-and-roll center. It's possible that he gets better as a post defender, but he'll never be a good pick-and-roll defender. So, if anything, we groom him to be the big post defender prototype. With that the case, we are better off looking for an agile, undersized guy as our 3rd center. Maybe someone like Harry Giles or Willie Cauley-Stein? Or maybe just go with an over-the-hill veteran like Taj Gibson or James Johnson (not exactly inspiring, I know).

[doclinkin]

Love Lopez and I think he's probably the most fun player on the team to watch play basketball. But yeah - bringing him back for the MLE or close to it would be a Grunfeld move. Doubling down, rather than pocketing your winnings. Grunfeld did that repeatedly - Martell Webster ended up getting paid like $30 mil for one good season, I think. It's (kind of) worked out with Bertans so far, but he needs to stay effective for four more years.

I believe the Wizards would have bird rights on Lopez, so as long as the Wizards are willing to pay the man, what do I care how much he's making?

Judging by how Leonsis conducts his business however, I very much doubt that the team is going to be willing to go beyond that luxury tax threshold to keep this iteration of the Wizards intact.

Lopez or not Leonsis paid the lux tax for a losing team. And Westbrook has lifted this team out of the cellar into relevance. I expect Ted would pay the lux tax if he thought the team had a chance to battle deep into the playoffs. Basketball in DC is a sleeping giant. IN Russ and Brad he has a duo of good character stars who always give you your money's worth on their contract. Which says a great deal considering how much they are being paid. The team needs to draw people back to the building post pandemic. If this team was a one year flash in the pan, and the roster were stripped after, I expect the team might have difficulty retaining Brad given the offers that will be on the table for him. But if the team is basically the same, you can point to the 2nd half record. And if an effort is made to add talent to that, you can perhaps retain him and make a push deeper into the post season.

I think there is a number at which Ted thinks it is not a bad idea to dip deeper into the coffers. Yes they have been losing money in the pandemic. But. We have one of the top 10 richest women in the world as a co-owner. If there is a feel good story and a winning team, I fully expect Ted & the board would pay to contend. At least for a year or so.

[pcbothwel]

Love Lopez and I think he's probably the most fun player on the team to watch play basketball. But yeah - bringing him back for the MLE or close to it would be a Grunfeld move. Doubling down, rather than pocketing your winnings. Grunfeld did that repeatedly - Martell Webster ended up getting paid like $30 mil for one good season, I think. It's (kind of) worked out with Bertans so far, but he needs to stay effective for four more years.

I believe the Wizards would have bird rights on Lopez, so as long as the Wizards are willing to pay the man, what do I care how much he's making?

Judging by how Leonsis conducts his business however, I very much doubt that the team is going to be willing to go beyond that luxury tax threshold to keep this iteration of the Wizards intact.

Ummm... Because we will be able to use the MLE if we are able to stay under the tax.
Len, Dieng, Hernangomez, Wagner, Kornet, Boban, Dwight, Big Tacko, Noel, etc.... All these guys will be available for 3M or less.

I'd MUCH rather have Dieng, Kornet, or Hernangomez on the Vet Min and use the MLE on a legit wing/forward than spend 5-6M on Lopez and only have the BAE for a forward.

We can bring back Winston, Mathews, Gill, our draft pick, and a vet 3rd Center for about ~11-12M. That gives us 13 players with the 8 currently under contract for about 130M, putting us 6M under the tax and ~12M under the apron.
We would be able to use the Full MLE and add 1-2 Vet min players to put us at 15-16 and be JUST under the Apron.
Im sure the Homesley signing was done with this in mind.

Tommy sees the value Crowder and Ibaka brought last year as MLE Free agents. He probably looks around and sees that not many competitive teams have the Full MLE available to them this year.

Otto, Batum, and Caruso are all interesting candidates to me. Otto & Batum fit perfect with our current forwards and can be given a starting spot on a playoff team, along with a nice pay check.... Hard to beat

[Rafael122]

I never liked the signing in the first place. He surprised me, but that doesn't make the pill easier to swallow. Noel got $5 million and he's probably going to get paid this offseason. That's who I wanted.

Truthfully, I would let RoLo go, sign Len to the minimum and at the very least can be the backup until Bryant is fully healthy. This team needs a 3 and D guy in the worse way so the focus should be on that. Gafford/Bryant/Len isn't the worse center rotation in the world.

[mhd]

First Wagner, then Len, now Lopez. Yall just wanna keep and pay everybody!

There's a decent number of Cs who can be productive but they have limited value & utility if they can't defend the pick & roll because there's always an open shot that comes from it. Its part of the reason why we horrible until Gafford showed up and things took off once he entered the rotation. . Lopez for all the hook shot wizardry ain't impacting wins and losses.

Finding centers that are agile enough to guard the pick-and-roll and strong enough to defend guys like Embiid and Valanciunas is a tall order. If you have a guy like that, he is definitely a starter. Gafford looks like he might be that guy.

But once you have a guy like that, you still need a couple of backups. I think the ideal scenario is to have one backup who is a big behemoth who can help guard the big post-up centers and maybe score some in the post, and the other guy be a quicker guy who can defend pick and roll (but is probably a bit undersized, which is why he is an affordable backup) and hopefully shoot a little. You can then utilize either guy, depending on the matchup.

Lopez is a good prototype for the big backup center. A guy like Chris Boucher or Nicolas Claxton would be ideal for the mobile backup center.

At the moment, we already have Bryant under contract as a backup center. He is problematic defensively because he is neither a strong post defender or an agile pick-and-roll center. It's possible that he gets better as a post defender, but he'll never be a good pick-and-roll defender. So, if anything, we groom him to be the big post defender prototype. With that the case, we are better off looking for an agile, undersized guy as our 3rd center. Maybe someone like Harry Giles or Willie Cauley-Stein? Or maybe just go with an over-the-hill veteran like Taj Gibson or James Johnson (not exactly inspiring, I know).

I think Bryant is gone after next year (unless he's traded before the expiration of his contract). Why would we resign him? He's a horrific defender and will want money. Bryant's money would be better allocated to a 3 & D wing or a combo guard.

[Ruzious]

Lopez is 13th in career blocks among active players. 3rd place goes to his better half.