Brook Lopez Has Officially Entered 'So Overrated, He's Underrated' Territory
People keep saying Brook Lopez hurts the Brooklyn Nets. People are wrong.
It's upsetting that Lopez's reputation has taken such a swing. A quick Google search of "Brook Lopez offense" actually yields a series of articles from November, December and January about how Lopez is stalling the Nets' underwhelming attack. But that's not actually the case.
Even considering Lopez's flaws on defense, he's remained one of the better centers in the NBA and certainly the best one on Brooklyn's current roster. The Nets 5-man has been boxed in a corner this year, mostly because of his style. It just doesn't fit what Lionel Hollins is trying to do in Brooklyn.
Though he hasn't made such comments of late, Hollins was critical of Lopez at the start of the year.
"[He's] the same Brook. He can score," Hollins critiqued back in November. "He needs to be better defensively. He needs to be better rebounding. He needs to be better passing the ball to his teammates."
The Nets coach has always been a defensive-minded basketball philosopher. Plus, the emergence of Mason Plumlee's competence has taken minutes away from the former All-Star, since the Nets' two best bigs can't play together.
At this point, Plumlee is a straight 5. Obviously, Lopez is the same. And Brooklyn gets outscored by a whopping 17.2 points per 100 possessions when the two of them share the floor.
All of this on top of preseason and early-season injury issues explains why Lopez has lost playing time this season, averaging fewer minutes per game (26.9) than he ever has before and coming off the bench in more than half of his games played.
But even with all those flaws, even with the odd fit and the particular way teams have to shape a roster around Lopez, the Brooklyn sixth man is having one of the best seasons of any reserve in the NBA.
The Nets center is averaging 14.6 points and 6.7 rebounds (in only 24.5 minutes) during games that he comes off the bench. Meanwhile, the rebounding—which has always been below average and has, at times, been inexcusably damaging—has actually improved. He's actually pulling down a higher percentage of available rebounds than he has since his rookie season. He's been especially effective of late on the offensive boards. From Devin Kharpertian's great profile at The Brooklyn Game on Lopez's improved rebounding:
"The limited but voracious Reggie Evans, perhaps the greatest rebounder Lopez has ever played with in his brief career, once distilled rebounding to four poignant words in his Pensacola southern drawl: “just go get it.” In the past few weeks, that’s what Lopez has done. Lopez has generally had good footwork boxing out his man in his career, but has struggled in pursuit following the miss. But Lopez has looked more aggressive in the paint and willing to fight on the glass.
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It's not just about hitting the glass. The guy who was once recognized as one of the best low-post presences in the NBA is still finding ways to score, and he's doing it on the same moves. He's especially effective when he works his hook shots and quick floaters, which allow him to be so dominant from that three-to-10 foot area, usually an awkward spot on the floor for most bigs.
He's expanded his game this year, too.
Normally, Lopez is an around-the-basket guy who's shown the ability to step out to 18ish feet when necessary. But this year, partly because he's been on the receiving end of more pick-and-pops than ever, he's attempting more jumpers than ever. A career-high 21 percent of his field-goal attempts have come from 16 feet out to the three-point line.
Lopez is hitting those shots, too, sinking 40 percent of them from that area, his best mark since 2008-09, a rookie year when he took far fewer attempts from that distance. That's not necessarily the way Lopez wants to play, but he's being pushed out there by the other Nets bigs with whom he pairs.
Here's the thing about Lopez: Even if he's a fraction of a step slower than he was before all the foot injuries (which he is), he's still a heck of a center. You just need a roster that he fits into perfectly, and that sort of group is difficult to find.
It's the same concept as Al Jefferson of the Charlotte Hornets. He's a tremendous low-post center who can score efficiently and often, but he's not going to anchor your defense.
Look at the teams who have gotten to the Finals over the past eight or so years. Except for LeBron James-run squads, you won't find one who didn't have a rim-protecting big man who could guard the paint on a consistent basis. In today's NBA, with offenses prioritizing layups, dunks and threes more than ever before, that sort of player is essential.
So, if you don't get those traits from your center, you need them from your power forward. But how many 4-men who can actually protect the rim are out there? Not many, partly why a Lopez deadline deal to the Oklahoma City Thunder would've made so much basketball sense. He could've been perfect next to Serge Ibaka, who could've been defensive insurance on one end and a floor-spacer on the other.
But it didn't happen for Lopez, who remained in Brooklyn after months of hearing his name in trade rumors. So, he continues to score and help the Nets in his own Lopezian ways, despite being paired with guys such as Plumlee, Thaddeus Young, Cory Jefferson or small-ball 4s, who don't work next to him on defense.
He's going to appear on some Sixth Man of the Year ballots. It'll happen, especially considering how much that award has to do with pure points-per-game numbers. Lopez ranks fifth in points per game off the bench among players who have been a reserve at least 20 times this season, falling behind only second-unit stalwarts Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Lou Williams and Ryan Anderson.
He can hit free agency this summer if he doesn't pick up his $16.7 million player option, a distinct possibility. Someone with his injury history might be smart to opt for long-term security over playing out next year and then hitting the open market during the summer of 2016, when he could get more money with an exploding cap if all goes right.
But sometimes things go wrong, especially for Lopez, who missed almost all of each 2011-12 and 2013-14 with leg and foot injuries.
Hopefully, Lopez goes to a spot that works for him, because as we've learned, fit might be more important for a player such as Lopez than for most other skilled scorers. Find a comfortable role, and everything else falls into place. Whoever ends up with the Nets center this offseason could find themselves surprisingly pleased come the start of next year.
Fred Katz averaged almost one point per game in fifth grade but maintains that his per-36-minute numbers were astonishing. Find more of his work on ESPN's TrueHoop Network at ClipperBlog. Follow him on Twitter at @FredKatz.
All quotes obtained firsthand. Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current as of Mar. 6 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference and NBA.com.
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