Right last name, wrong first name. If the C's go after a Lopez, I'm hoping for Robin. It won't cost us as much money and he is a presence in the middle that can be intimidateing. This is from a March 2014 B/R report:
"What this team needed was insurance. Someone willing to do the grunt work.
Lopez welcomed that challenge before it was even assigned.
"My biggest focus is being that last line of defense," he said at his introductory press conference last summer, via Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. "Blocking shots, discouraging plays at the rim, deterring drives to the basket. I'm here to play defense."
He wasn't lying. He's tallied a career-best 1.7 blocks a night, more than the franchise has seen since Greg Oden averaged 2.3 in 2009-10.
Lopez's rim presence has been as discouraging as he said it would be. For as many shots as he's swatted away, he's changed even more. His 42.0 field-goal percentage allowed at the rim ranks fourth among all players facing at least five such shots a game, via NBA.com's Spor**** player tracking data.
"He’s given us everything we hoped for on the defensive end," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said, via Hardwood Paroxysm's Jordan White. "Both as a stabilizing force in the paint, setting the defensive mindset, and as a communicator."