Los Angeles Lakers: Ivica Zubac will be the surprise star of next season

Many are questioning which young star is going to step up on the Los Angeles Lakers alongside LeBron James, the results are going to surprise everyone.

The Los Angeles Lakers went from a young lottery team with some potential to a bonafide playoff team with potential title implications next season just with the addition of LeBron James.

While the mountain to climb to reach the NBA Championship in James’ first season in LA is massive, it seems to be a near-guarantee that the Lakers win another title in LeBron’s following three years. The Lakers have the best player on the planet and a ton of cap space next summer — that is dangerous.

In year one, the entire league is going to be watching to see what young superstar steps up and plays as LeBron’s second-choice star. Brandon Ingram is the farthest along in his progression, Kyle Kuzma has been the outspoken face of the core and Lonzo Ball presents James with a facilitating point guard he has never played with before.

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Heck, even Josh Hart enters the season with a ton of promise after he stepped up in Ball’s absence last season and followed that performance with a dominant Summer League.

The Summer League is nothing like the regular season but Kuzma dominating last summer and we all saw what happened following that.

One young player that nobody seems to talk about, whether it is alongside James or not, is third-year center Ivica Zubac. Zubac entered his sophomore year last season with the promise of becoming a true difference maker. However, he fell second fiddle to the new young faces in LA and a dominant season from Julius Randle.

Now, Zubac is being lumped into the assumption that the Los Angeles Lakers are going to struggle mightily at the center position as he and JaVale McGee are the only true centers on the roster.

And while Zubac may not be an all-star, win any awards or sell a lot of jerseys, he is going to emerge as the clear-cut option to start at center for the Lakers and is going to surprise the entire league with how efficient he can be.

Zubac does not need to score, especially with four better options in the starting five. However, he has shown the ability to score down low and could reach double digits if given the playing time.

In his rookie season, Zubac averaged 7.5 points on 52.9 percent shooting in 16 minutes off the bench. He has only gotten better; give him 22-25 minutes in the rotation and he will be flirting with the 10 mark on a nightly basis.

Zubac also averaged 4.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in his rookie season. With his seven-foot-one frame and long wingspan, Zubac can utilize his size and added NBA knowledge to snag 7-9 rebounds per game in the starting unit as well as average a block and a half.

And while he did take a step back in his sophomore year, he also received about half the playing time and became the third option behind Randle and Brook Lopez. If given the chance to play a role with James on the court, who makes plays happen, Zubac really can tap into that potential and be an above average center next season.

The Los Angeles Lakers need size. The team needs interior defending and a presence that can take bodies off the third-point line. Zubac is the team’s best bet and should be given free rein to show what he can do.