You kind of get the sense Robin Lopez doesn’t have many bad days in his life. The Bulls seven foot center came to his post season meeting Saturday with management accompanied by his year old, maybe 40-pound goldendoodle, a Lopezesque cross between a shaggy poodle and intent retriever.
Sort of like Robin. They both go for the ball with a wild mane of hair.
No relation, Robin insisted.
“I'm just going to try to be what I was during the season,” Lopez said after his meeting. “I want to be the backbone, I want to be consistent. I'm not going to try to cause any problems. I want to be here. I'm under contract and I'm a positive guy. I took away a lot of positives from the season. I'm very,very comfortable here. I love the city, I love it as a sports town, I love it culturally. I'm really enjoying myself here.”
Lopez has two guaranteed seasons left at an average of about $14 million per season.
“I'm a California guy, I'm not gonna lie,” Lopez conceded. “I'm heading out West pretty soon. But people have been telling me about Chicago in the summer. I don't think I can miss out on that.”
The Bulls would have missed out without Lopez.
He was acquired in the Derrick Rose trade along with Jerian Grant. Lopez averaged 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds, playing in 81 games. He missed one with a suspension from a fight with Serge Ibaka. He then in the playoffs averaged 12.7 points, third on the team, and 7.2 rebounds.