Last Friday, we took a deep dive into the profile of Yaxel Lendeborg, a soon-to-be 24 year old hybrid forward out of Michigan who many believe to be the most NBA ready player projected to go in the top 20. On the other end of the spectrum is Karim Lopez, a hybrid forward born in Mexico but most recently playing in New Zealand. Lopez recently turned 19 years old and is seen as a lump of clay with smalls sprouts of talent in just about all facets of the game.

Measurements

Height: 6’8.25″
Weight: 222 pounds
Wingspan: 6’11.5″
Standing reach: 8’9.5″
Standing vertical: 32″
Maximum vertical: 38″
Hand size: 9.5″ length, 11″ width

Strengths

Physical tools, motor, versatility

Karim Lopez is only 19 years old, but he’s already got the physique to battle with full grown NBA adults. He’s nearly 6’10” with almost a 7 foot wingspan and a very good standing reach for a forward. He has massive hands, which is apparent just from watching him play. He’s got a knack for snatching down rebounds and can get his hands in passing lane and up to block shots. Unlike most forwards of Lopez’s age, he’s powerfully built, and he knows how to use that build. He throws his weight around when battling for rebounding position and uses shoulder bumps to create space for himself around the basket. While he’s a little slow footed to guard quicker players on the perimeter, he’s pretty mobile for his size and has the strength to guard up on bigs in switch or small ball situations. He’s also got the length to function as a help side defender.

He pairs his physical tools with a high effort level. It’s particularly obvious on the glass, where he goes outside his area on both ends to get his hands on misses. When he corrals defensive boards, he’s quick to look to push the ball in transition. While not always disciplined defensively, he does generate a good bit of stocks and is frequently trying to make plays.

As cliche as it is, Lopez is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. The jack-of-all-trades part is the appeal. There aren’t any glaring weaknesses in his game, and he has the mentality and overall skill to function as a connector within a team that has more dynamic players around him. He’s been a very effective driver, though it’s not exactly aesthetically pleasing stylistically. He attacks very deliberately with a lot of herky jerky head fakes and changes of direction along with some brute force. He finishes well when he gets in close and shows flashes of making nice passes if looks open up for his teammates. He’s shown flashes of being a capable shooter as well, though he needs to improve his consistency in that area.

Question Marks

Shooting, defined NBA skill/role

Lopez’s ability to hit outside shots is going to have a tremendous impact on his viability as an NBA player. That’s not unique to him, but given his lack of standout skills otherwise, he needs to at least be passable as a shooter to get himself on the floor and let the other aspects of his skill set grow. He shot 32.2% from three and 73.9% from the free throw line last season. He’s not far off from being a good enough shooter to get by, but it’s always a risk banking on that skill to get better. His technique is okay but could use some cleaning up. He can be quite mechanical in his shot prep and a little slow from catch to release. There’s enough there to be optimistic about, and he shoots with confidence, which is like half the battle. It just needs to go in.

Like I said in the last paragraph, it’s fair to question what kind of role Lopez would play in the NBA. He’s not an elite athlete by NBA standards, he’s a shaky shooter, we have a very limited sampling of his slashing, and he’s a little hot and cold with his defense. He doesn’t have any red flags as a prospect, but his only bright green flag might be the lack of glowing red flags. There are a lot of elements of his game that could develop enough to make him a skeleton key on either end of the floor, but there’s also not one skill that you can count on getting him onto the floor early in his career.

Overview

I’ve seen a fair few Tidjane Salaün comparisons for Karim Lopez, and I don’t think they’re entirely misguided. Both are big forwards that play the game the right way and have versatile skill sets but need a good bit of seasoning before they’re ready for the big time. Lopez does have better counting stats and much better scoring efficiency, particularly inside the arc, so he has that going for him. He seems like the type of player the front office and coaching staff would like in the building to mold into the player they need. The Ringer compared him to a bigger Josh Hart, which would be a great fit with the Hornets. It’s a risk though, because Lopez is also a type of player that could just as easily flame out without ever providing anything meaningful to the roster.