Lakers Rumors: Predicting each players’ stat-line next season

C. Ivica Zubac

Predicted Stats: 8.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.0 APG

Ivica Zubac was the Lakers second round pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and showed Lakers fans a glimpse of what he could do last season. Because of his youth, Zubac will likely start over both Timofey Mozgov and Tarik Black. Zubac does have the potential, that is without a doubt, however, the 20-year-old center still will not blow anyone away in his sophomore year.

Zubac’s rebounding numbers were very poor for a center last season, however, there is some bright spots in his resume. Only averaging 4.2 rebounds per game last season is a bad sign, however, in his last ten games played, which were stars, Zubac averaged 5.7 rebounds. Still not great, but an improvement.

Last season in the games Zubac did play he only averaged 16 minutes per game. As a young starting center, we will likely see Zubac average around 22 minutes per game, which just going off of last season would bring his average up to 5.8 rebounds per game. Obviously, he will play better so it is not crazy to see him hit the seven rebound mark or even surpass it.

Overall, Zubac’s scoring likely will not see a huge improvement just because of the improvements elsewhere, but we should see an improvement in his rebounding metrics. If Zubac wants to take that next step in the NBA, he is going to have to start rebounding the basketball more.