Atlanta Hawks: 12 Potential Targets in Free Agency
By Chris Guest
Ivica Zubac
Ivica Zubac was surprisingly traded ahead of the trade deadline in February. It was such a surprising move that LA Clippers advisor Jerry West (The Logo) recently admitted that he and other members of Clippers brass “laughed” at the Lakers for giving up a talented young player like Zubac.
Only 22 years old, Zubac has plenty of untapped upside and his 7-foot-1, 240-pound frame would make for an excellent defensive addition for the Atlanta Hawks frontcourt of the future. With John Collins a clearly entrenched member of the team, a better rim-protecting center is needed alongside him.
Though not an elite rim protector, all that size at the five would serve as a deterrent, and his 3.9 percent block rate would be 20th in the NBA if he had logged more minutes this season.
One wrinkle: Zubac is a restricted free agent, meaning that the LA Clippers can match whatever offer a team would make on the big man. This offseason will likely be extremely important for the Clippers as well, since they’ll be looking to add major names via free agency (Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant) as well as via trade (Anthony Davis).
Who knows if Zubac will be brought back as a high-upside young backup big, or if he’ll be retained as another enticing trade piece. We shall see, but either way, the Atlanta Hawks should at least make an offer on the Bosnia & Herzegovina native.