Brook Lopez Discusion

I thought he played alright last night. Did what he could anyway.

The difference is he's not bring force fed the ball here. In Brooklyn they had no other weapons and here the Lakers don't rely on him the same way. Couple that with a really unfortunate slump from outside and you get this: a slower 7 footer that isn't an elite rebounder and gets in foul trouble regularly. I still think he has value (potentially strong value even) but he's playing his way out of a big paycheck.

 

Oh I'm not denying his ineffectiveness. I'm just saying there's some outside factors here more than just "he stinks".

 

His corner three does generally make me feel better than his other shots.

 

He's been very disappointing. There was a short stretch there where he looked great but wow, did he drop off. It's gotten to the point that I just don't want to see him down the stretch at all. Sadly you can't teach speed and he is just so slow out there on defense. He doesn't fit our system very well in that regard of switching on everything.

 

Building the case for Brook Lopez (for @LTLakerFan )

Brook Lopez is right now averaging the following:
13.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.4 steals, 1.6 blocks in just 22.8 minutes per game

If we take a look at his Per36 stats (yes I went there!) Brook is averaging:
20.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.7 steals, 2.6 blocks in 36 minutes

Those numbers would be good for:
5th in scoring for Centers
1st in blocks for Centers (1st among all active players actually)
10th in assists for Centers
15th in steals for Centers

Those Per36 stats actually line up almost precisely with his career Per36 averages:
20.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.7 steals, 2.0 blocks

Brook's Defensive Rating is lower than it's ever been in his career at 104 and that's good for 12th among starting Centers in the league. That's better than Gobert, Jokic, Davis, Howard, Porzingis, Robin Lopez, Andre Drummond, Karl Anthony-Towns (a terrible defender actually), and DeMarcus Cousins.

Unfortunately I've pinpointed the problem with Brook: his FGas are not where they need to be. Brook is averaging nearly a career low 11 shots per game, the lowest of his career besides his rookie season. Of those 11 shots a whopping 4 of them are coming from behind the three point line. That means 36.4% of his shots are from outside. He's never been used this way before. Even in his unique season last year, he took 15 shots per game and averaged 5 from outside.

If Brook hits just 4 more threes over the last 25 games, he's sitting at exactly the same average as he had last season. The 4 shots and 6 extra minutes he got last season helped raise his FG% so that his offensive output wasn't so disappointing. This season he hits 3/10 threes in two games and gets few other opportunities. It's difficult to succeed offensively that way.

For what he's capable of doing, we're basically turning Brook Lopez into Thomas Bryant.

Quietly, over the last four games Brook has averaged 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 blocks on 46% FG and 33% 3PT in just 20.7 minutes.
Given 36 minutes that's 21.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.3 blocks.

All I'm saying is that Brook makes an easy punching bag on the team when things get frustrating. I don't think he's been nearly as bad as people think, but absolutely his role and his performance have been underwhelming. I do believe, after looking at these numbers, that the Lakers don't have plans for Brook in the future. If the did, they'd be giving him more opportunities than he's seeing now. I believe the Lakers will only be open to bringing Brook back at the Room Exception assuming they're capable of attracting the FAs they want. What Brook can provide and what the Lakers are looking for aren't really aligned. They might as well be starting a much cheaper player in that position.

 

^ Nice breakdown. It makes sense. Thank you.

 

The way I see it, it has to be a design. The Lakers made it obvious before the season started they wanted Lopez as a spacer, but it just looks like it's not a perfect fit for Lopez. He showed the ability to do it last year, but it doesn't really look like his strength.

 

I think they're treating him like one or Luke doesn't know how to use him properly. I'm still debating which.

 

He was awful tonight. Looking like a dinosaur.

 

I agree with some of real’s positives on Brook from game time, he has been a really good teammate, and he has some nice blocks most nights. I don’t think he came here to sit out 4th quarters, but he’s on the bench cheering on the team and being a good veteran presence (unlike Deng), and not complaining. He’s not what I want in a C here anymore though, he shots and misses too many threes, he gets outhustled on the boards and on a lot of effort plays, maybe because he’s so slow. For me he needs to work in the post more and do the dirty work, but I guess that’s not our strategy for him. So yeah, some of his negatives are not entirely his fault, but he just doesn’t seem like a long term fit. Our starting lineup continues to struggle and he’s a big reason. If he weren’t a giant expiring contract we need for the 2018 plan I’d be trying to trade him now, but I get that isn’t likely to happen.