The Lakers recently shut down multiple veteran players in order to get a longer look at their young contributors as the season nears an end. Now, one of those young players will miss the rest of the year too. According to a press release issued today by the Lakers, rookie big man Ivica Zubac sustained a high ankle sprain in his right ankle and won’t return to the court this season. He’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks, per the team.
Zubac, who suffered the injury early in Thursday night’s loss to Minnesota, appeared in 38 games for the Lakers in his rookie season, and flashed some promise. For the year, the 2016 second-rounder averaged 7.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 0.9 BPG in 16.0 minutes per contest.
The Lakers, having shut down veterans Nick Young, Luol Deng, and Timofey Mozgov, have some options as they look to make up Zubac’s minutes. Tarik Black, Thomas Robinson, and Larry Nance Jr. are among the players who could see their roles increase over the final two weeks of the season.
9.0 BPG??
Right lol
Hah, flipped some numbers there. Fixed, thanks.
Zubac was a nice 2nd round get. Like Clarkson and Nance before him. The Lakers have not been devoid of talent. They’ve been devoid of leadership–no floor general or real team captain.
Nance was actually a first round pick