9. Ivica Zubac– C
As a rookie, Ivica Zubac gave many Lakers fans reason to be optimistic for the future of the young big man from Croatia. This did not continue into his second season. While there was an occasional bright spot, such as his 19 points and 11 rebounds game against the Timberwolves in February, he was largely irrelevant throughout much of the season.
He began the season totally out of the rotation, playing less than 15 total minutes through the first 35 games of the season. As the season continued and injuries began to pile up, Zubac found himself on the court more often.
While he did begin receiving playing time, the problem was that he did not play well. He seemed to be no better than he was as a rookie, if not worse. Aside from a few solid games in February, the only real bright spot of his season came once Isaiah Thomas arrived and manned the bench unit that Zubac operated with.
Thomas was the only competent pick and roll guard that Zubac had played extended minutes with up to that point in the season, and it showed. He showed signs of a solid screener in the pick and roll while operating with Thomas, and that can possibly continue in the coming season.
There has been buzz that the team is very high on him going into his third season. This, combined with the fact that the team did little to solidify the center position in free agency, makes it seem like they expect Zubac to play a much bigger role with the team.
While this may turn out to be the case, it is not an exciting proposition. Barring any extreme developments in his game that took place this offseason, Zubac is not a particularly good basketball player.
If he does turn out to be much improved and play a large role with the team, great. That will be very impactful to the success of the team as they desperately need a center to arise and take the job. But don’t get your hopes up.