Los Angeles Lakers: Ivica Zubac trade was the worst deal this season

The Los Angeles Lakers traded Ivica Zubac and Michael Beasley to the Clippers for Mike Muscala on February 7th. The Lakers have clearly miss their ex-young center, but how bad was that trade?

Here’s some stats (minimum 15 minutes played per game):

• Ivica Zubac is 1st among all players 21 years old or younger in defensive rating: DEFRTG 102
• Zubac is 6th among all players 21 years or younger in www.nba.com’s Player Impact Estimate (PIE): 12.8
• Zubac is 9th among all players 21 years or younger in defensive rebound %: 19.4
• Zubac is 2nd on the Lakers in DEFRTG for the season: 102.1
• Zubac is 2nd on the Lakers in PIE: 13.1 (Zubac’s PIE score has gone down slightly since he’s been playing for the Clippers)
• Zubac is 15th in the entire NBA (minimum 25 games played this season) in DEFRTG

Since Zubac was traded, the Lakers have struggled on the defensive end. There are many factors that have gone into the Lakers shoddy D of late. Specifically, LeBron’s penchant to stand in the paint and not guard anybody, Rondo’s inability to guard a JV high school basketball player let alone a pro, and of course, Lonzo’s absence.

Zubac couldn’t have solved all of the Lakers defensive problems, but he could have helped, especially considering during the time Ivica has been playing for the Clippers, Chandler’s averaged 9.3 MPG and has the 2nd worst DEFRTG on the Lakers. Couple that with the fact that JaVale’s averaged almost 20 minutes per game since and somehow has the worst DEFRTG on the Purple and Gold, it’s easy to see Zubac’s been missed.

I doubt any Lakers fan needs to see any of the numbers I just mentioned though, all anybody had to do was just watch the way Jonas Valanciunas and Joakim Noah tore up McGee and Chandler during that ugly loss to the Grizzlies to know the Purple and Gold are having some “issues” at the center position. It seems like right now Chandler and McGee’s best quality is making opposing 5’s look like All-NBA players.

Anyway, what about the player Zubac was traded for: Mike Muscala?  Muscala was brought in for his 3-point stroke, but since he hasn’t done much for the Lakers.

To make matters even more sad and confusing, the latest chatter around the league has focused on how Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are looking to pick up another center to fill out the Lakers 15th and final roster spot. The center who’s been brought up the most in connection with the Lakers has been Marcin Gortat, a player who’s been worse than Zubac in all aspects of the game this year.

When Ivica Zubac came into the league as a 19-year-old, he was known as a gifted offensive player who was too slow to play defense in today’s modern NBA. However, during this, Zubac’s 3rd season in the NBA, he’s become one of the best young defensive centers in the league, capable of guarding quicker players on the perimeter and protecting the paint. Also, on offense he has soft hands and he’s adept at playing out of the pick-and-roll.

The Ivica Zubac trade has gone under the radar, because of all of the chemistry and effort problems the Lakers have been suffering through recently. However, any time a team trades away one of the best young centers in the league for essentially nothing (keep in mind, Muscala was brought in for his outside touch, but he’s only made a few 3-pointers since joining the Lakers) it should be written about and fans should take notice.

Before I composed this article I scanned all of the trades that took place this season and I couldn’t find one transaction that was poorer than the Ivica Zubac for Mike Muscala deal. So, to answer my question in the title: How bad was the Ivica Zubac trade? It was the worst deal of the season.