Los Angeles Lakers center Ivica Zubac suffered a high ankle sprain in Thursday’s 119-104 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he’s done for the season, the team announced on Friday. The rookie will finish 2016-17 with averages of 7.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 16 minutes per game, shooting 52.9 percent.
Those averages don’t fully capture the potential that Zubac showed in his 38 games with the Lakers and 14 games with the NBA D-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders. When given the chance to play in the second half of the season, he scored efficiently on the inside and showed some flashes of being able to make plays for others out of the post. Considering he was the No. 32 pick in last year’s draft, the Lakers should be happy with what they’ve seen from him.
When Zubac got hurt against the Timberwolves, reserve big man Thomas Robinson picked up his minutes. He will likely see more opportunities in Los Angeles’ final seven games, and Tarik Black seems the most logical candidate to start at center.
