Are the 2020 LA Clippers the best NBA team money can buy?

Ivica Zubac – $6,481,482

Ivica Zubac is a young, talented big man who has shown just how much he can contribute given the opportunity recently. He has put up major numbers in the restart given a bit more playing time and focus with the Clippers limited roster.

His $6.48 million salary means we will be evaluating him against players making $8.1 and $5.18 million this season.

The full list of players in that salary range:

Cristiano Felicio, Ben Simmons, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Maxi Klebar, Elfrid Payton, Thomas Bryant, RJ Barrett, Jayson Tatum, Jae Crowder, Wayne Ellington, Luka Doncic, Joe Harris, Seth Curry, Doug McDermott, Langston Galloway, Derrick Rose, Brandon Ingram, D.J. Augustin, Darrius Miller, De’Andre Hunter, Josh Jackson, Davis Bertans, Ersan Ilyasova, Jaren Jackson, DeMarre Carroll, Nemanja Bjelica, Jaylen Brown, Jabari Parker, Darius Garland, De’Aaron Fox, Trae Young, Montrezl Harrell, Ish Smith, Marco Belinelli, Jarrett Culver, Jonathan Isaac, Rodney Hood, Mohamed Bamba, Timofey Mozgov, Trey Lyles, Deron Williams, Aron Baynes.

Again, there is a list of young, proven superstars for which the swap would be a no-brainer for the Clippers, we’ll get them out of the way here: Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson, Jaylen Brown, De’Aaron Fox, and Trae Young.

Outside of that list, there aren’t many players in this price range worth swapping the 23-year-old big man for. Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba are tempting, but injury concerns keep them on the “no” side of the equation for now