Following a pattern of rumblings that were stomping, Jake Fischer of ‘The Stein Line’ reported that chatter around Ivica Zubac leaving the LA Clippers via trade has notably dwindled. Usually, the longest-tenured player and fan-favorite staying through the busiest time of the year would be fantastic news, and it still is with Zubac, but the reality is that the opportunity to receive multiple unprotected first-round picks for him will not revisit.
The Clippers could inform every team in the NBA that Zubac is available for trade, and it is a near guarantee that the 28-year-old, averaging 14.8 points and 10.7 rebounds on a value-menu contract, would have half of the league inquiring, and at least one willing to pay.
But the Clippers do not see eye to eye with reality. Lawrence Frank and Co. view a turnaround that is in progress and have adopted the mindset: “If it is not broken, do not fix it.”
This is a flawed way of thinking, and shortly after the deadline, the Clippers will realize their error.
Ivica Zubac’s value is only going to decline moving forward
In 34 games this season, Ivica Zubac has done nothing to help his value. Every angle of why Zubac is the top asset, despite regressing in points, rebounds, and field-goal percentage, correlates to the money he is making, and the fact that he is a year and some change away from 30.
Soon enough, variables will begin to add up. Once his regression becomes the pinnacle of why teams will elect not to part with draft capital to trade for him, the LA Clippers will understand that his value was steadily declining when they decided to hold tight.
Moreover, Zubac’s playstyle quickly went from needed to suffocating. The flow turns out to be a drought, as he ruins the spacing and causes problems when Kawhi Leonard and James Harden are more effective at scoring the rock.
In fact, in every game the Clippers have not had Zubac this season, they have won. That is a perfect record that Brook Lopez and Yanic Konan Niederhauser have helped achieve, and it was done because they do not command the ball; they just run the offense as expected.
That said, the Clippers are on the verge of making a historical fumble. It would not even be considered selling high, as Zubac has been underwhelming this season. Yet, he is still worth a decent amount of assets that the front office will overlook due to a group effort, flip of the script, that he did not participate in.