NBA Power Rankings: All 30 Starting Centers
By Shane Young
18. Robin Lopez — Portland Trail Blazers
It can’t be normal to snicker and shake your head this much while discussing one position. Thus far, it’s primarily been a group featuring brothers of another player, international prospects, or both.
Robin Lopez has been the fortunate Lopez as it pertains to staying in game action and preventing injuries to his body. His twin brother, Brook, has the ceiling that’s insurmountably higher, but one injury tormented him all of last season. Forgotten brother Robin, however, has been able to play 82 games for each of the last two years, and made significant differences for New Orleans and Portland.
Lopez is a complete opposite from his brother, as Portland’s crazy-haired 7-footer held the defense together stronger than Gorilla Glue.
In the descriptor of Wins Above Replacement, Lopez was the sixth-best center all of last season, gaining 7.69 “wins” above what a standard bench player would produce for the Trail Blazers. The only members higher were Joakim Noah, DeAndre Jordan, Marcin Gortat, Dwight Howard, and Chris Bosh.
Head Coach Terry Stotts admired the potency and worth ethic Lopez brought right off the bat last season, as he claimed the team even noticed it during training camp.
“I think everyone realized then that we had a special guy that was going to play that way in September and play that way in May,” Stotts said in September 2013.
Considering how terrific of a foul shooter Lopez has become in his career, Portland has found themselves a fine fit for the center role — one that was supposed to be filled back in the day by Greg Oden. Remember that fairytale?
Lopez shot 81.8 percent from the line, despite setting a career-high in free throw attempts per game (3.0). Typically, that percentages takes a slight downfall when the amount of tries increases. Not for someone that has the basketball genes in his blood, and has dedicated himself to having a soft touch. Finally, he’s appearing to live up to the near-lottery pick Phoenix chose him with. That’s one place that would love to re-visit his efforts if they could.