During the preseason, Brook Lopez made a nonverbal promise through his play that his addition to the LA Clippers was the best of the entire NBA offseason. He was absurdly efficient from three for his size, yet the Clippers should have known it was too good to be true, as the regular season started nine games ago, and Lopez has been abysmal.
In nine games, Lopez is averaging 7.0 points and 2.7 rebounds, shooting 41.4% from the field, 32.5% from a distance, and 50% from the free-throw line.
The Clippers are paying almost $10 million per season, specifically a total of $8.75 million in his first year, for these contributions. This money could have gone to a different type of center that is not hesitant to enter the paint, but Lopez made the Clippers believe in him over the summer, and now the front office is paying the price.
Brook Lopez has forced Tyronn Lue to switch his front court lineups
The one hope every LA Clipper fan had following all the exciting news about Brook Lopez in training camp was to one day see him at power forward and Ivica Zubac at center.
The fans dreamt about it day and night, and though it was gonna have to wait at least until the Clippers settled into the regular season, everyone knew the day it would take place was coming soon.
However, the only way Tyronn Lue was going to do it was if Lopez and Zubac were playing well individually in the lineups they were incorporated into. This ultimately meant a dominant two-way leap from the Croatian Star, while the one-time All-Star had to be spacing the floor efficiently while destroying opposing offenses with his size on defense.
Zubac has not done much on his own, yet he recently recorded his season high in points against the Phoenix Suns on the road, with 23, along with 11 rebounds. On the contrary, Lopez cannot be trusted with the rock in his hands from beyond the arc. He shoots without hesitation, which would be great, yet it seems he has forgotten the fundamental mechanics to get the ball to glide through the net.
In fact, Lopez has had four games this season with zero makes from three, which is mainly all he does.
That said, Lue will have to stick to having just one natural center in each unit until the Clippers have a solid winning record and a high seed in the Western Conference.