Evan Mobley is spot-on about Robin Lopez, and vet should give Cavs a jolt

It’s safe to say that during this season, Robin Lopez is not going to have a huge role with the Cleveland Cavaliers on the floor.

Lopez only appeared in 36 games last season with the Orlando Magic, who are a team that’s still in the early stages of a rebuild, and with coming season with Cleveland, Lopez is entering his 15th year in the NBA. The Cavaliers will be his ninth team in that span, and his fourth in what will be the last four seasons, with the Washington Wizards and prior to that, the Milwaukee Bucks, as the others before Orlando.

Lopez was a one-year, veteran’s minimum signing by the Cavs over the summer in free agency, and he’s not a guy that’s going to be an every-game type of player, I wouldn’t think.

Jarrett Allen will have the lion’s share of Cleveland’s 5 man minutes, and Evan Mobley will have some time at the 5, too. Others could maybe be sprinkled in here and there, such as Kevin Love.

That said, Lopez should have some minutes still in bench stretches, and he should give Cleveland a legit interior presence on the interior on both ends in times filling in for Allen and/or Mobley. It’ll be matchup-dependent, to some extent, with Lopez, objectively.

He’ll be a true 7-footer that will be a real post-up presence for spurts with his touch on hooks and push shots, will aid others as a screener and could provide some rotational rim protection, as far as the skill set.

Generally, though, Lopez has been a guy that’s been in the league for quite some time, and even with it being early on, it’s easy to understand why he’s historically been so universally well-liked by his teammates at other stops, and their fan bases seemingly.

Recently, the aforementioned Mobley touched on what his early impressions have been of Lopez in media availability, and his comments were pretty much right on that mark, via sideline reporter Serena Winters of the Cavs/Bally Sports Cleveland.

Mobley’s above comments were spot-on about Lopez, and the veteran should still give the Cavs a jolt. Others can feed off that, too.

Lopez isn’t going to have a significant role game-to-game for Cleveland, but he can still give the Cavaliers some productive minutes in middle stretches, and for a true reserve 5, he’ll give them a reliable interior presence.

Lopez can connect on his share of hook shots, his go-to move, and despite his finishing being unorthodox, his subtle ball fakes, positioning and touch enable him to be effective in that regard when he’s in there still. Lopez had 7.1 points and 9.0 points per outing the past two seasons with Orlando and Washington in 17.0 and previously 19.1 minutes per appearance, and for a reserve 5, that’s been fine, realistically.

He can give Cleveland some rotational rim protection/paint deterrence in spurts, and should do a capable job on the defensive glass as well. Again, the minutes outlook for him is going to be somewhat matchup-dependent, anyhow. But he can still give the Cavs a jolt in his minutes, I believe, and other guys can feed off that.

Even with the caveats we’ve touched on for the on-floor aspect, it’s easy to see why Lopez has seemingly always been a guy that’s been so beloved by his teammates whereever he’s been, and has long been a fan favorite. The Mobley comments above about Lopez were spot-on when it comes to that element.

Mobley was all over it when partly describing Lopez, in particular, as “goofy.”

As KJG’s John Suchan highlighted shortly after Lopez was brought in via free agency, the veteran at various stops has been seen jostling with mascots, has not been shy about his disdain for them (which is clearly a sarcastic bit and is all in good fun), and has the makings of a fan favorite. This tweet had to have been points for him among the Cavaliers fan base from the jump, too. Ya gotta love Cedar Point.

Additionally, I personally got quite the kick out of Lopez’s interview during Cavs Media Day with Mike Lucas of The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. You can just tell that Lopez absolutely will be “one of the guys,” and for both younger Cavs in Darius Garland and Evan Mobley and the older guys such as Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, that will help team chemistry.

https://twitter.com/ultCLEsports/status/1574802798495121410?s=20&t=5Rrt5IIyLWZ9u2aNqEGSAQ

I get that Lopez is probably not going to have a big role for Cleveland on the floor this coming season; this will be Year 15 for him, and as we noted, Allen and Mobley will both factor in heavily in the 5 man minutes.

But in a few stretches when he’s in there, his contributions can give the squad energy still, also based on his personality.

Lopez, for what it’s worth, will be a big-time vibes addition for the Cavs this season.