With the pressure of the entire front-court on his shoulders, Ivica Zubac did outstanding in making his job seem easy. The entirety of the LA Clippers' season is basically on him, and if he fails or gets hurt, the rest of the team would not have gone anywhere when the regular season ended.
Furthermore, the front office could have applied a simple ideology with Zubac, and that if he did it once, he could easily do it again. In fact, repeating the same cycle next season may have been easier, as the experience would already be there.
This would have left the Clippers to spend most of their mid-level exception on another wing, which would have been perceived as perfect timing, as LA may need assistance following a detrimental consequence to Kawhi Leonard.
However, the Clippers knew they would be walking on eggshells, with Zubac in a precarious situation for various reasons. Thus, they added Brook Lopez as their first free agency signing. This prevents the biggest detriment from happening to the Croatian Star, which is an unrecoverable slump.
Ty Lue confirms the primary reason Brook Lopez was added to the LA Clippers
As the LA Clippers could have their first official all-star center since DeAndre Jordan, they want Ivica Zubac to remain at this level for as long as possible. This means the front office should be looking out for him in every way, ultimately doing him favors, to prolong his success.
During the Clippers' media day, Tyronn Lue mentioned that having Lopez, who could still start on a championship team, will prevent Zubac from being overused. This is a follow-up from what Lue noted last season, which was that the star big man was playing too many minutes.
Moreover, spending an extensive amount of time on the court is how slumps for players begin, and sometimes, they are impossible to get out of. This is not the direction the Clippers would want to risk Zubac going down.
Additionally, Lopez has an effective offensive game that includes a strong mid-range ability, which could complement Zubac's play. Tomer Azarly reported this as something he has worked on, and it could be utilized next season as a way for Lopez to save the 2025 All-Defensive big from declining.
That said, fans should expect the impact Lopez is going to have next season to be massive, especially on Zubac and the amount of minutes they share next season.