The way New Orleans coach Monty Williams gushes about Robin Lopez, one would assume the mammoth center still played for the Pelicans.
“I can’t say enough about how good of a guy he is,” said Williams, a longtime former Blazers assistant. “He’s just a solid person. A solid locker room guy. A solid guy on the (team) bus. And he’s really passionate about playing — more so than I thought.”
The Trail Blazers acquired Lopez earlier this month in a three-team trade with the Sacramento Kings and Pelicans that allowed New Orleans to land free agent guard Tyreke Evans in a sign-and-trade with the Kings. If New Orleans didn’t need to deal Lopez to facilitate the Evans signing, there would not have been cause for Williams to detail Lopez’s fit with the Blazers — the Pelicans wouldn’t have dealt him.
“We valued him really high,” Williams said. “We wouldn’t have given him up if we didn’t have to do something as big as Tyreke.”
Lopez had a career season in New Orleans, playing in all 82 games and establishing career highs in scoring (11.3 points per game), rebounding (5.6), blocks (1.6) and minutes played (26.0). Blazers general manager Neil Olshey and coach Terry Stotts have touted Lopez’s defensive prowess and expressed giddiness about what his addition will mean in Portland next season.
Williams echoed their sentiment. He said Lopez brings a host of defensive traits that go unnoticed on a stat sheet, noting that he has a “good feel for the game” and always seems to be in the right spot on the floor. And while his rebounding and block numbers don’t wow, Williams says they are misleading. Lopez is a master at altering shots around the rim and using his massive 7-foot, 255-pound frame, to disrupt opposing offenses when players roam into the paint.
There’s also this: Williams said Lopez’s addition will allow All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge to exclusively guard power forwards. Far too often last season, Aldridge had to muscle his way out of position against bigger, brawnier opposing centers.
“You can’t equate defense by the numbers all the time,” Williams said. “That’s the issue I have with all these numbers. He has a good feel for where he’s supposed to be. He may not take a charge, but he’ll distract a guy. To me, that’s just as important at times. He’s also going to help LaMarcus out tremendously. Because LaMarcus doesn’t have to guard Dwight (Howard). He doesn’t have to guard (Kendrick) Perkins and (Marc) Gasol and all those other bigs. It’s a totally different deal. LaMarcus can guard Jason Thompson without having to guard DeMarcus Cousins. That’s going to free him up.”
Williams begrudgingly let Lopez go so the Pelicans could add Evans. And in doing so, they lost more than a rock-solid defender and “high-character kid.”
“When we lost him, we lost a lot of intelligence — our intellect quotient went down a ton because a he’s really bright person,” Williams said. “He just understands how to play defense. He understands the game and his role. I’m going to miss him.”
