Player Facts
Height: 7'0"
Weight: 282lbs.
Date of Birth: Apr. 1, 1988
College Experience: Stanford (2 years)
Selections
All Star: 1
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 2
Player Grades
Speed/Explosiveness: 2
Physical Strength: 10
Positional Size: 10
Positional Wingspan: 10
Paint Scoring: 8
Midrange Scoring: 6
Three-Point Scoring: 6
Dribbling: 4
Passing: 3
Perimeter Defense: 4
Interior Defense: 10
Rebounding: 6
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STRENGTHS
Intro
The hefty seven-footer Brook Lopez has adapted his game in accordance with the NBA's stylistic paradigm shift. He has developed into a high-volume three-point shooter at the five position. Defensively, Brook has become a monster paint protector in the drop coverage with that 7'5.5" wingspan.
Bombing Away
Lopez has a slow shooting motion from deep, but it really doesn't matter since he's so tall. His super high release point lets him shoot over defenders right in his grill. Brook also has the good habit of holding his follow-through.
The vast majority of his threes are assisted through pops, on kickouts, and as the trailer. However, Lopez will use a hard jab to back up his defender and create his own open triple. His 156 above-the-break threes in 2018-2019 outpaced Kevin Durant, Trae Young, and Karl-Anthony Towns. 2020-2021 had him edge out wings Tobias Harris and Gordon Hayward in this area.
Brook is capable of taking a dribble in or sidestepping to shed the closeout. He has some real range as a stretch five, pulling from a few feet behind the arc.
This provides valuable spacing to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday. It makes the defensive closeout to him that much further.
His jumper causes defenders to aggressively run out at him to take away the triple. Lopez can wait for them to fly by before firing, or even put the ball on the floor. Brook only committed 1.0 turnover per game in both 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 - then just 0.9/game in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.
All in all, Brook was third in the Association with 401 2018-2019 spot-up points. This was good for the 79th percentile. Lopez's point total here bested three-point snipers like Buddy Hield and Bradley Beal.
Rumbling through the Paint
Lopez is a hellacious screen-setter and a capable roll man. He likes to slip whenever defenders trap the ball-handler. Brook will also short roll into a quick post-up to get him going offensively.
Brook prefers to take a couple of slower power steps as he barrels down the lane. He has good focus and touch on his finishes, connecting on a whopping 75% of his 2018-2019 restricted area looks. In 2019-2020, he was in the 70th percentile for roll man scoring.
Scoring in the Key
He has decent general touch in the paint out to the free-throw line. A nice two-footed floater is in his arsenal. 2020-2021 saw him connect on 63 of 122 non-restricted area paint shots - 51.6% efficiency.
Brook is accurate at the charity stripe as well. He got there frequently in his earlier years with the Nets. On a year-to-year basis, Lopez lives around the high 70s and low 80s with his free throw percentage.
With the powerful grip on the basketball, Brook is strong in the paint. He rarely gets the ball dislodged from his hands on rolls or duck-ins. He'll extend his arms out away from his torso to entice slaps at the ball, drawing fouls this way.
Powerful Post Play
The Stanford product has a methodical post game. His team smartly looks for him when he has a size mismatch down low. In 2019-2020, he was in the 83rd percentile for post scoring productivity.
He keeps his elbows out to establish substantial space as he pivots in the key. Brook avoids offensive fouls by using his shoulder to initiate the contact here rather than a more obvious elbow. Lopez can score against multiple bodies deep in the paint with a huge frame.
Rim Running
Lopez tries to beat his man down the floor whenever possible. He motors into the frontcourt to get some easy points. Running hard here helps mask the fact that his footspeed is subpar.
Drop Defensive Anchor
Brook patrols that paint for his squad with an immense 7'5" wingspan. A true seven-footer, Lopez lurks in the key to erase layup attempts. His brilliance as a help-side big contributes greatly to his lofty block count.
His defensive skill set and physical tools are maximized when set in drop coverage. Within this scheme, Brook's strengths are highlighted and his weaknesses covered up. Set in a drop, Lopez can serve as an imposing paint presence without being tested laterally out on the perimeter.
His towering 9'5" standing reach allows for impactful shot-blocking and altering without being a bouncy big man. Brook has the luxury of offering a great shot contest to oncoming slashers without having to leave his feet. This helps him keep his fouls in check while stacking up huge block totals.
Beyond blocking shots, Brook provides alternative defensive value in the deep drop. He extends his long arms out to minimize passing lanes. Lopez regularly breaks up the quick lob here purely on instinct, timing, and body positioning.
His rim protection work in 2019-2020 was sublime. He recorded a mammoth 3.2 blocks per game average per 36 minutes that year. Additionally, opponents shot an insane 17.4% below their normal average inside six feet when Lopez was there.
Post Defense
When sticking to more like-sized players, Brook remains effective. His massive 282 lbs. body is tough to budge down low.
Opponents who face up and drive are still met with Lopez's length and good reaction time. He was in the 77th percentile defending post-ups in 2018-2019.
Accumulating Shot Contests
He contested the most two-point shots in 2019-2020 by a wide margin. Brook contested 1047 total, breaking down to 15.4 per night. Rudy Gobert and Jarett Allen were a distant second and third on these leaderboards.
Formidable Box-Outs
Lopez has never put up crazy defensive rebound totals, but that doesn't tell the full story. Brook parks his heavy frame under the hoop to forcefully box-out opponents.
By blocking out one if not two players, his teammates can crash in to snare these boards much more easily. For instance, Giannis Antetokounmpo's defensive rebounds per 36 minutes average spiked from 7.8 in 2017-2018 to 11.3 the next year - coinciding with Lopez's arrival.
WEAKNESSES
Offensive Weak Points
Lopez is quite limited as a passer. Centers around the league are becoming increasingly more adept at initiating the offense, with Nikola Jokic and Bam Adebayo at the forefront. Brook's passing pales in comparison. To be fair, playmaking is far from his main role on offense.
Brook chucks up a lot of threes, but his percentages are actually not great. He can be mired in a shooting slump but stubbornly keep on shooting. Lopez hit on only 31.4% of his threes in 2019-2020 on a high volume of attempts. 2020-2021 saw him improve ever so slightly to 33.8% from deep.
Also on offense, Lopez's lack of verticality hinders his potential as a roll man. Specifically, Brook is not much of a lob threat as a predominantly ground-bound player.
Defensive Woes in Space
Brook's stiffness out on the perimeter proves troublesome against guards and wings. The lumbering Lopez has major difficulties containing ball-handlers in space and gets blown by easily. In some instances, his lack of mobility can get him played off the court.
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