Los Angeles Lakers: 3 people facing the most pressure in 2018-19

2. Ivica Zubac

Little was known about the 7-foot Croatian when the Lakers selected him with the 32nd pick of the 2016 draft. Fan anticipations of what he would contribute were limited.

But in that season’s Summer League, he unexpectedly impressed nearly everyone with his presence down low, his soft touch and his winning personality. His popularity soared as predictions arose that Zu would ultimately be the team’s starting center.

Newly-signed free agent Timofey Mozgov began the season in that role. Although fans were rightfully perturbed that the front office had overpaid for him, he was still a serviceable big man.

Zubac spent much of that rookie season playing in the then D-League. He replaced Mozgov in the starting lineup for the final 11 games, and for the season, recorded remarkably similar statistics (7.5 points compared to Mozgov’s 7.4, 4.2 rebounds to 4.9, .529 field goal percentage to .515). But fans were excited about the future of the then 19-year old Zu.

But in the 2017 Summer League, on a team which won the title and featured rookies Ball and Kuzma, Zubac seemed slow and out of synch, nothing like the rookie who looked so good the previous year.

In the offseason, the Lakers acquired veteran center Brook Lopez, who became the obvious starter. When Lopez rested, Coach Luke Walton opted to go with a smaller lineup most of the time rather than use Zubac in a backup role.

As a result, Zu’s DNPs- Coach’s Decision mounted up game after game. Once again, he often suited up in 2017-18 for the South Bay Lakers. He played in just 43 NBA games, starting none, and his stats trended downward in virtually every category, including minutes played (only 9.5), points (3.7), rebounds (2.9) and shooting percentage (50 percent).

The Lakers also chose another big man, Thomas Bryant, with the 42nd pick of the 2017 draft. He spent most of the season in the G League, where he made the All-Star team. This offseason the Lakers had inexpensive team options on both Bryant and Zubac. The expectation was they would retain both players, who would then compete for the starting role this coming season.

But the front office had other ideas. First, they drafted center Wagner in the first round of this year’s draft. Then they exercised their option on Zubac but surprisingly waived Bryant. Finally, they signed free agent center JaVale McGee.

Now the pressure facing Ivica is to earn playing time this year and prove that he is a legitimate NBA big man. Over the summer, he played for the Croatian national team in Europe, and reports are that he looked very good.

Laker fans can only hope that experience and a little maturity will help Zu at age 21 become another important member of the Lakers young core, a big man the team can count on going forward.