3. Robin Lopez
We recently broke down five centers the Los Angeles Lakers could potentially sign this summer to replace Dwight Howard, who is also a free agent. Even if the Lakers do bring back Howard, they have consistently brought in two centers to rotate, so any of the five options could still be on the table.
Robin Lopez was not on that list as he is not one of the five-best centers that the Lakers can pursue. The center market is so dense this offseason and the price for all of these guys is extremely cheap. There are so many options that are better than Lopez and signing Lopez over them would be a mistake.
Adding a traditional center and playing him in this rotation is already an issue with the floor-spacing. That being said, if the Lakers are so set on having traditional fives then they need players who can protect the rim and can rebound at a good rate.
Lopez, despite his size, doesn’t really do either of those things at a level similar to his peers. Heck, Lopez averaged only 3.5 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game last season. Over the last five seasons he is averaging 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per 36 minutes. Those are not good numbers for a seven-foot center who offers absolutely no floor spacing.
Lopez is the worst of both worlds and would be a negative addition to the Lakers that would wind up getting bought out before the season ended.