Toronto Raptors 2016-17 player grades: The bench
By Nate Wolf
Lucas Nogueira
Lucas “Bebe” Nogueira’s first season as a rotation player yielded mixed results.
Prior to Serge Ibaka’s arrival, Nogueira was Toronto’s only pure rim protector, and the statistics bear that out. Bebe’s 3.0 blocks per 36 minutes ranked sixth in the entire league. At the rim, he held opponents to just 47.9 percent shooting. Bebe’s long, relatively mobile and finished the season with an elite 5.6 Defensive Box Plus-Minus.
On offense, he used his 9-foot-6 standing reach to pose a threat around the rim. He ended the year shooting 76.2 percent from within three feet, per Basketball-Reference. Altogether, Toronto was better with Bebe on the floor.
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But there’s a thin line between “defensive specialist” and “one-way player.” Like Jakob Poeltl, who we evaluated earlier this week, Bebe barely touched the ball this season, finishing with just 8.4 points per 36 minutes. Unlike Poeltl, Bebe is a thin-shouldered, below-average rebounder who fails to give his team extra possessions.
Even elite defenders have a difficult time cracking rotations when they’re not trusted on offense. Just look at Dewayne Dedmon, who started 37 games for the Spurs before dropping out of San Antonio’s playoff rotation altogether.
The Ibaka trade hurt Bebe a lot. He’d been playing productive defensive basketball before his minutes fell off a cliff in March. Having played just seven minutes in the playoffs, the big Brazilian will have his work cut out to reclaim a rotation spot, whether Ibaka stays or not.
Next season is a contract year for Bebe. Will he become the next shot-stuffing, lob-gobbling center to get paid? The jury’s still out.