The Los Angeles Lakers once had Brook Lopez and Ivica Zubac on the roster at the same time. Now, they’re two of the NBA’s best defensive centers.
Lopez left Los Angeles for a one-year, $3.3 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks in July 2018. He admitted to ESPN’s Zach Lowe that he was surprised the Lakers did not pursue him harder to return for a second season. Much like Alex Caruso did, he said he “would have wanted” to return to Los Angeles.
Zubac was selected by the Lakers at No. 32 overall in the 2016 NBA Draft. But on Feb. 7, 2019, he was traded to the crosstown rival Clippers in exchange for Mike Muscala (who played just 17 total games with the Lakers).
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the Clippers never even called the Lakers about Zubac and “couldn’t believe” how he fell into their laps. It was a laughable trade back then, and it remains so to this day — especially with how well both Zubac and Lopez are performing.
Remember when the Lakers had both Brook Lopez AND Ivica Zubac at the same time & lost both of them for nothing pic.twitter.com/i1bVrjqbP9
— Shervon Fakhimi (@ShervonFakhimi) November 13, 2022
Zubac, who finished with a career-high 18 rebounds on Thursday, grew up as a fan of the Lakers. Lopez was born in North Hollywood and also rooted for the Lakers.
Both are excellent big men who would fit in well on the Lakers as relatively low-usage players that do not require the ball on offense but provide stellar defensive impact.
Worse yet, both are natural fives that would allow Anthony Davis to play at the four — where he would prefer to play. Davis, instead, has played out of position for Los Angeles. Lopez played for Lakers head coach Darvin Ham when he was an assistant for the Bucks, and both big men would do well in his defensive-oriented approach.
Even if neither was a long-term fit, they clearly had more value (even as potential trade chips) than Los Angeles was ever able to extract in return.
It didn’t work out for Lopez and Zubac on the Lakers, but let’s take a moment to marvel at what they’ve accomplished on the court so far this season.
Brook Lopez
Based on his play so far this season, Milwaukee’s Lopez is one of the frontrunners to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year. Even if that doesn’t happen, though, he could earn All-Defense consideration.
He leads the league in blocks per game (2.5) and total shots contested (252). Just watch the way he impacted and slowed Cleveland’s offense possession after possession:
Brook Lopez is nasty in a drop, man. pic.twitter.com/6zMkQA5x0E
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) November 17, 2022
Among the 100 players who have logged the most minutes, Milwaukee’s defensive rating when Lopez is on the floor (102.1) ranks the best of any in the NBA.
As noted by Nekias Duncan, it is even more drastic when Lopez and the Bucks are in a set defense. Overall, however, the Bucks allow an additional 11.5 points per 100 possessions when Lopez is not on the floor.
The advanced metrics favor Lopez, too. This season, Lopez leads all players in the catch-all defensive metrics RAPTOR (7.1) and Estimated Plus-Minus (3.8) in 2022-23.
This isn’t just a small sample-size anomaly as Lopez has long fared very well with analytics. Before this season, Lopez trailed only Rudy Gobert and Alex Caruso (another defensive ace who left the Lakers) in three-year, luck-adjusted RAPM.
But this is a career-best season from Lopez on the defensive side thus far.
Lopez is fouling opponents less often than ever before, per Cleaning The Glass, and the Bucks allow opponents to grab fewer offensive rebounds when he is on the floor.
The five-man lineup with Lopez alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, and Jevon Carter is the best high-volume defense in the NBA.
Ivica Zubac
We already told you that Lopez leads the league in contested shots, but even wilder is that Zubac ranks second-best in the NBA and has the most (219) of any player in the Western Conference.
Zubac trails only Lopez in total blocks recorded (32) as well, but that isn’t even where his impact is felt most.
Defense ➡️ Offense@ivicazubac block ➡️ @Yg_Trece three pic.twitter.com/1tIsywpDdO
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 16, 2022
Opponents are 41-for-99 (41.4 percent) within six feet of the rim when Zubac is the nearest defender.
That is the lowest of any player in the league who has defended at least 50 attempts in that zone. It is also 21.9 percentage points lower than when the same players take shots against other defenders, and that currently ranks as the most significant difference in the league.
He is assuredly highlighted on the scouting report at this point because his opponents know to avoid him. They attempt 34.9 percent of their field-goal attempts at the rim during minutes without Zubac, per PBPStats. But they are only getting looks from that zone on 23.5 percent of attempts when Zubac is on the floor.
The Agenda must be heard and televised.
Ivica Zubac has been on the short list of best defenders in the league this year. pic.twitter.com/13geSZHfXm
— Justin W. (@LAClippersFilm) November 10, 2022
According to Cleaning the Glass, the massive on-off difference in opposing rim frequency ranks Zubac in the 100th percentile among NBA players.
Zubac leads the NBA in defensive win shares (1.1) and even though the Clippers have played much of the season without Kawhi Leonard, they also have a five-man lineup anchored by Zubac that ranks as one of the stingiest defensive groups in the NBA.
