On the latest episode of "The Hoop Collective," Brian Windhorst let out all of his thoughts on the LA Clippers, and every one of them was positive. He praised Kawhi Leonard sincerely, and followed up with the prediction that Ivica Zubac would make an All-NBA team.
This prediction did not shock Clippers fans at all, but to the rest of the NBA community, and even the experts with Windhorst on the show, Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon, it may be considered more bold than anything, as the league is highly talented at the frontcourt.
However, Windhorst had his eyes on Zubac through the LA Clippers' preseason games against the Guangzhou Loong-Lions and Denver Nuggets, and to really believe what he was seeing, he waited until after the Croatian star's rematch with Nikola Jokic before stating his belief that will be re-visited at the end of the year.
Ivica Zubac's first two preseason performances justify why Brian Windhorst is so confident in him
Just like most teams in the association last season, the Guangzhou Loong-Lions tried to stop Ivica Zubac, but the big man was locked in on scoring, rebounding, defending, and dunking, even more efficiently than last season.
He posted 15 points in 16 minutes, with only one missed shot on seven-of-eight shooting. He also had five rebounds, and would have had three more points to his total had he not gone one-for-four from the free-throw line.
The Denver Nuggets, in the LA Clippers' second preseason game, came into Intuit Dome eager to stop Zubac after what he did to the Loong-Lions and his overall performance in the first round of the 2025 playoffs.
But, some may even view Zubac to have performed better versus the Nuggets than the Loong-Lions, as he had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting five-for-six from the floor, and two steals.
Conversely, one area that would help Zubac accomplish Windhorst's All-NBA prediction would be increased volume outside of the paint. He has the mentality and proper mentors to learn from; now, he just needs to apply this skill to his game.
In fact, the preseason is Zubac's best time to take these types of shots without worrying about the repercussions, since the games have no real impact on the record books. Thus, Windhorst is on the right track by making such a prediction, and if he is healthy and leaps as he should, the well-known ESPN expert will be celebrating the precision of his bold statement.