{"id":4002,"date":"2017-01-27T17:41:45","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T22:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=4002"},"modified":"2017-01-27T17:41:45","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T22:41:45","slug":"lakers-start-rookie-ivica-zubac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2017\/01\/27\/lakers-start-rookie-ivica-zubac\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lakers Should Start Rookie Ivica Zubac"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/category\/lakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Los Angeles Lakers<\/strong><\/a> are struggling. In November, the team looked set to exceed expectations. Sitting at 10-10 heading into December, Lakers fans began to talk about the playoffs. Unfortunately, December would see the start of a painful descent down the standings. Winning just two games to end 2016, the team would continue to slip in the New Year. Currently standing at 16-34, the once hopeful Lakers are now beginning to think about the draft, not the playoffs.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Lakers Should Start Rookie Ivica Zubac\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h4><strong>The Mozgov problem\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>With six-year NBA veteran <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mozgoti01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Timofey Mozgov<\/a><\/strong> struggling in Los Angeles, it&#8217;s time to make a change. The big <strong>Russian<\/strong> is currently averaging 7.6 points and 5 rebounds per game. This sort of form has led to many Lakers fans questioning Mozgov&#8217;s four-year, $64 million contract. These struggles couldn&#8217;t have come at a worse time for the big off-season signing, as rookie center <a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/z\/zubaciv01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Ivica Zubac<\/strong><\/a> has emerged from <strong>D-League<\/strong> player to regular contributor. Zubac would go from averaging 6.8 minutes in December\u00a0to 16.4 so far in January.<\/p>\n<p>Mozgov, 30, likely peaked during his time with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/category\/cavaliers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Cleveland Cavaliers<\/strong><\/a>. The 7&#8217;1&#8221; Russian is still useful for the right team and could be a part of a trade\u00a0when the deadline arrives. Although general manager <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kupchmi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitch Kupchak<\/a><\/strong> has suggested that the team will likely remain inactive in trade discussions this season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mitch Kupchak looked ahead to upcoming trade deadline + told me no one was untouchable in this league but he liked the Lakers&#39; current mix.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mike_Bresnahan\/status\/817173673677180928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 6, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>What Zubac has done well\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Coming off the bench on all but one occasion, Zubac has proved he can play at both ends. In 15 games this season, the 19-year-old <strong>Croatian<\/strong> center has averaged 4.9 points and 3.7 rebounds. However, Zubac recent minutes increase has led to the youngster&#8217;s production going up. January has been Zubac best month so far, averaging 7.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. It&#8217;s only a matter of time before head coach <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/waltolu01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Walton<\/a><\/strong> will be forced to make a decision on Zubac&#8217;s place in the rotation.<\/p>\n<p>Unlikely to jump out of the gym, Zubac makes up for his lack of athleticism with skillful play in and around the paint. Compared to <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Gasol<\/a><\/strong> before the draft, Zubac has suddenly become very useful. Screen setting, spacing the floor well and finishing when called upon are three aspects Zubac has done well in his short stint with the team. Expect the young Russian to continue to be a part of the Lakers team this season and beyond, as it appears the second-round draft pick is quite the steal.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ivica Zubac (16 points, 10 rebounds) Posts Second Straight Double-Double For Lakers\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/udd3L56NU6I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Why the Lakers have nothing to lose by starting Zubac<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The Lakers have fallen into a hole they can&#8217;t get out of. After a relatively promising start to the season, Walton&#8217;s Lakers find themselves at the wrong end of the standings. However, there are huge benefits to the Lakers poor form. If the Lakers fail to retain their 2017 first-round draft pick (top-3 protected), then the team will lose their 2019 first-round draft pick also. 2017 will go to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/category\/76ers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Philadelphia 76ers<\/strong><\/a> and 2019 to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/category\/magic\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Orlando Magic<\/strong><\/a>. So if the Lakers end up securing a top-three selection, the team would retain both future picks.<\/p>\n<p>Zubac would be an ideal change for Walton. Seen as less NBA ready than Mozgov, Zubac could help the Lakers secure a top-three pick. All that matters is game time. The likes of Zubac and fellow rookie <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/ingrabr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Ingram<\/a><\/strong> will benefit from as many minutes as possible. If you&#8217;re struggling to understand the concept, then this tweet from former <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordoncollegefootball.com\/2017\/01\/14\/early-heisman-candidates\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>USC<\/strong><\/a> Football wide receiver <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordoncollegefootball.com\/2017\/01\/03\/usc-beats-penn-state-rose-bowl-thriller\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Juju Smith-Schuster<\/strong><\/a> should help.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Went through the darkness to get to the light \u2b50\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamJuJu\/status\/824427816586350592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Above is a tweet which describes the Lakers going forward. There is a ton of young talent on this roster and all that&#8217;s needed is patience and time. You need to go through the tough, frustrating times to reach the good times.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/621561326\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Lakers should bench 6-year NBA veteran Timofey Mozgov and start rookie center Ivica Zubac for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":638,"featured_media":4018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,62],"tags":[65,652,152,317,655,96,315],"class_list":["post-4002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-nba","tag-basketball","tag-ivica-zubac","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-luke-walton","tag-mitch-kupchak","tag-nba","tag-timofey-mozgov"],"modified_by":"Barkev Sivazlian","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}