Los Angeles Lakers: Ivica Zubac making the most of his opportunities

Los Angeles Lakers big Ivica Zubac has stepped into a starting role at center and has impressed in place of JaVale McGee, who is out with pneumonia

After getting nabbed in the second round of the 2016 NBA draft out of Croatia, Ivica Zubac was ecstatic for a career with one of the NBA’s most prized organizations, the Los Angeles Lakers. His career didn’t exactly start out on the right foot though, as he struggled to produce and spent a lot of the first two years of his NBA career playing in the G-league.

Fast forward to this season and Zubac hasn’t played much, until the last three games. He dropped double digits in points in contests against the Pelicans, the Grizzlies, and the Warriors while playing over 30 minutes in each game.

Prior to these three games, the Croatian only featured in 11 of LA’s first 31 games. When McGee went down with Pneumonia, Luke Walton threw Zubac in there to start and it’s safe to say he has run with the opportunity.

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Aside from the efficient scoring, Zubac also grabbed 11 rebounds in a win over the Pelicans and a loss to the Grizzlies. He was a huge reason LA blew out Golden State on Christmas day, beating them by 26 points without LeBron James for the majority of the second half. Zubac had 18 points, 11 boards, and two blocks in the win. His presence in the paint has definitely been felt on both sides of the ball.

He will still see minutes

Luke Walton announced yesterday that Zubac has fully earned the opportunity to see a substantial amount of minutes each game even with JaVale McGee coming back. Walton has a plan on how to split time for the two centers which could be a great move because there is no way you can toss Zubac back on the bench after his spectacular performances in the last few games for the Lakers.

Over these last three games, The 7-foot-1 center has shot a mind-boggling 78.1 percent from the field, also recording 2.7 blocks per game during that span. Zubac has a strong frame for his size and uses his length to swat oppositions and throw down dunks with ease. In the Christmas day win over Golden State, the Lakers had tremendous ball movement around the perimeter and also did a good job of finding Zubac down low.

When you’re playing with a player like LeBron, chances you’re going to be put in a good position to score. But once he was off the court with a groin strain, Rajon Rondo stepped in and was instrumental in distributing the ball. It definitely helps Zubac when he has two tremendous playmakers who can get him the ball down low and give him the chances to score.

Based on his size, he is actually fairly athletic for a seven footer. Zubac featured some nifty spin moves in the paint before finishing at the rim which was quite impressive given his huge stature. With Tyson Chandler on his last legs in the NBA, expect to see McGee and Zubac as the main two centers who see most of the playing time. Chandler still adds a spark off the bench sporadically, but he isn’t a starter in the NBA anymore.

JaVale McGee better come back with a bang because if Zubac continues to play at this high level, the 31-year old could find himself sitting on the bench more than he would like.

For Ivica Zubac, it’s awesome to see him playing this well considering he has barely played much in the league before this stint.