Clippers Have a Major Brook Lopez Problem

In a game the Los Angeles Clippers lost by 15, Ivica Zubac was +6 in his 33 minutes. Every time he went to the bench, however, the Clips were completely overwhelmed by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The main reason for the struggle was Brook Lopez's performance off the bench. Lopez was held scoreless with 0/2 shooting and grabbed one rebound in his 11 minutes of action, which LA lost by a whopping 24 points.

This was the continuation of a worrisome trend all season. The Clippers have been a disaster in Lopez's minutes all year and Ty Lue hasn't been able to come up with a solution. The team has a net rating of -12.2 with Lopez on the floor, an on/off difference of -8.3 points per 100 possessions, per Cleaning The Glass. The 37-year-old is in the midst of career-worst numbers across the board, including True Shooting%, free-throw rate, and rebounding rate; all signs of a physical decline.

The most disappointing of it all is his lack of impact on the defensive end. Once one of the best rim protectors and defensive anchors in the league, Lopez is now hurting the team defensively. The opponents shoot 68.1% at the rim on a high volume with him on the floor and rebounding the ball at a much higher rate than when he is off the floor. As a result, the Clippers give up 122.7 points per 100 possessions in his minutes.

Clippers Must Seriously Consider Not Playing Brook Lopez

Signing Lopez to a two-year, $16 million deal in the offseason has already proven to be a huge mistake. The Clippers must treat this signing as a sunk cost, and shouldn't feel like they have to play Lopez.

The issue here is that there isn't another proven center on the roster. Rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser is an option, but whether he is NBA-ready at this point is unclear. Perhaps, "he can't be worse than what Lopez is giving us," should be the approach.

The more likely solution, however, is relying more on small-ball lineups. Lue has discussed his desire to be bigger on the floor, but that hasn't paid off. So, it may be time to try more lineups without Lopez or Zubac on the court. Lue hasn't tried this at all this season, but having John Collins or Nicolas Batum play backup center minutes could at least juice the Clippers' offense by giving them more spacing and mobility.

This is not a panacea as the Clippers have a ton of problems. However, not losing Zubac-less minutes by double digits every game could be a step in the right direction.

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