Lopez' popularity really took a nose dive with that lack of playoff performance, or was it the emergence of Nards?
The Memphis playoffs were the single biggest part but its much more than that. His playoffs against the Rockets and Spurs were poor as well. Then Freeland filled in at center nearly as effectively. Then Kaman filled in at center and for the first month before he broke down played nearly as effective too. I'd like to bring Rolo back but not sure if he provides much value on a contract if its significantly more expensive than the MLE.
I want to bring back Lopez, including his playing with mascots, but I don't want to give him a raise. We forget how much better he was in his first season here than Przybilla, our previous standard of a satisfactory center. Will we return to starting natural PFs at C, which we did for years before and after Przybilla? Remember what a breath of fresh air it was to have a tall natural center, when Lopez arrived?
@daldridgetnt: Bucks, who wanted an audience with Tyson Chandler, just completed meeting with free agent center Robin Lopez, per source.