Robin Lopez signing hints the Knicks could play more small ball

By foxsports
Published

Robin Lopez doesn't have the best individual rebounding numbers, but that doesn't mean he can't help his team on the boards. 

Actually, Lopez's style on the glass may actually imply a philosophical change for the Knicks in the future. FOX Sports' Fred Katz fired off a string off tweets theorizing such Monday afternoon:

Lopez only averaged 6.7 rebounds per game as the Trail Blazers' starting center last year, but the numbers do back up Katz's hypothesis. Portland grabbed exactly 50 percent of available rebounds when Lopez was off the floor last year, per NBA.com. When he was playing, the Blazers corralled 51.7 percent of available boards, a large difference. 

He made an impact in Aldridge's rebounding totals, too. As Seth Partnow wrote at Nyon Calculus back in July, most of Aldridge's boards were considered as "free rebounds." Meanwhile, only about 35 percent of Lopez's were categorized as such.

Playing Carmelo Anthony at the 4 makes more and more sense as he gets older. Playing a position down is a natural transition for aging players, and the Knicks found the most success two years ago (during their 54-win season) when Melo was at power forward. He can spread the floor, make plays and even contribute on the boards, especially on offense. 

His foot speed can be a big difference compared to that of Kyle O'Quinn or Kevin Seraphin when going for those "free" or "uncontested" rebounds. The Knicks may not head in that direction this season. They'll be the first to admit their roster isn't "complete" compared to where they hope it will be in a couple of years. But this does leave a reasonable option open for the future.

(h/t Fred Katz)