As we approach the NBA Trade Deadline, Los Angeles Lakers center, Ivica Zubac, could be a valuable asset for the franchise.
With the NBA Trade Deadline coming up, the Los Angeles Lakers will be looking for ways to improve their team. Since the injury to LeBron James, the Lakers have fallen in the Western Conference standings.
While the team would be on the outside looking in if the playoffs started today, this was a team that was performing quite well with a healthy squad. Even though the Lakers were doing well prior to the injury to James, there is always room for improvement when you are chasing the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference.
If the Lakers are going to make a big splash, it is going to cost them some of the players from their young core. The Lakers have been very protective of their young assets recently, but if they want another superstar in a trade, they will have to part ways with them.
One player that hasn’t been considered part of the young core, but has been playing well is Ivica Zubac. Anonymous scouts told Dan Woike of the LA Times, that people around the league are impressed with Zubac. Here’s what he had to say.
"The 7-1 Zubac has intrigued scouts with his soft hands and effectiveness in pick-and-roll offense. The reviews go from “poor man’s Marc Gasol” on offense because of his great feel for the game to “plays like a center should” to “just a fringe guy.”One theory on Zubac: He’s precisely the kind of player a team could ask for late in trade talks — good enough and inexpensive enough for a team to acquire, yet not meaningful enough for the Lakers to kill a major trade."
Since the start of the new year, Zubac has been playing very well for the Lakers. Even though they have some good centers in JaVale McGee and Tyson Chandler, Zubac has worked his way into the rotation and also the starting lineup of late.
In January, Zubac is averaging 11.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in just over 15 minutes per game. On the offensive end, Zubac is arguably the best center that the Lakers have. On the defensive end, he has certainly improved from last season, and isn’t fouling nearly as much.
When it comes to making a big deal, Zubac could certainly be a valuable trade asset for the Lakers. Even though he has shown promise, the Lakers do have two capable centers on the team already if they were to trade him.