Lakers: Ivica Zubac Deserves All-Rookie Team Consideration

While Brandon Ingram is a virtual lock to make an All-Rookie team, second round pick Ivica Zubac also deserves serious consideration.

For the past three years, the Los Angeles Lakers have been staples at the NBA draft lottery. After missing out on postseason basketball for the fourth consecutive season, they will be heading back to the lottery on May 16, hoping the ping pong balls bounce in their favor once more.

If LA’s luck runs out this year, they will still have the late-first round pick they acquired in the trade that sent Lou Williams to Houston at the trade deadline. Since 2014, LA has enjoyed success late in the draft with gems like Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr, and most recently rookie Ivica Zubac.

Selected with the No. 32 pick in the 2016 draft, Zubac came into the league with very little expected of him. However, after a handful of impressive Summer League games, fans pegged the 19-year-old Latvian as LA’s center of the future.

Zubac, now known to many as “Zublocka,” spent the majority of his rookie season watching from the sidelines or playing with the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, the D-Fenders, before earning any meaningful minutes with the Purple and Gold.

In his 14 games with the D-Fenders, Zubac averaged 15.8 points and a team-high 9.7 rebounds, which closely resembles his current NBA per-36 minutes numbers (16.8 points and 9.5 rebounds).

While Zubac was helping the D-Fenders win games, the Lakers were struggling to win any of their own. Coincidence? Probably.

Regardless, the more games LA was losing, the more playing time Zubac was seeing with the Lakers. His apparent growth on and off the court earned him a spot in the Lakers’ crowded frontcourt rotation. He even made sporadic appearances in the starting lineup throughout the season. However, it wasn’t until just recently Zubac started seeing consistent starters minutes.

Now that the Lakers are officially eliminated from the playoffs, head coach Luke Walton has opted to shut down a completely healthy Timofey Mozgov for the season to see what he has in Zubac. It’s hard to imagine he doesn’t like what he has seen from his rookie.

Feb 6, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Ivica Zubac (40) shoots against New York Knicks point guard Brandon Jennings (3) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Since the All-Star break, Zubac has averaged 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 10.6 points per game while shooting 55.4 percent from the field. Only Knicks’ Willy Hernangomez is putting up better numbers and he is averaging two more minutes per game than Zubac. Hernangomez is also nearly three years older than Zubac.

Zubac is also the only player averaging at least 10.6 points and 1.1 blocks per game while playing less than 25 minutes per game. If he can build on his steady improvement, there’s no reason Zubac shouldn’t be named to an All-Rookie team at the end of the season.

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It’s hard to imagine him making the All-Rookie first team with the monster seasons Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid and Dario Saric are having, but Zubac should be the first name in the frontcourt on the second team.

Hernangomez will put a little pressure on Zubac as the season goes on, as will Domantas Sabonis, who will have to grow up in a hurry if he wants to make an impact in the playoffs with OKC.

Barring any injuries, there’s no reason Zubac shouldn’t finish the season strong with the Lake Show and make an All-Rookie team. If Zubac does make an All-Rookie team this year alongside Brandon Ingram, the Lakers will have had three consecutive seasons with at least one player on an All-Rookie team (Clarkson (2014), Russell (2015)).

Next: Has Jordan Clarkson hit his ceiling?

But what do you guys think? Has Zubac done enough to solidify a spot on an All-Rookie team? Is there anyone you would put before him? Let us know in the comments below!

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