Lakers select Ivica Zubac with No. 32 pick in 2016 NBA draft
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The Lakers selected Ivica Zubac of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the No. 32 pick of the NBA draft on Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Zubac began the season with Cibona Zagreb, but he joined Mega Leks midseason due to the club’s financial situation. Due to the league’s transfer rules, he was unable to play in Adriatic League games after that.
Zubac, who is 7’1” has been outstanding for Croatia at youth levels and most recently averaged 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds at the 2015 U19 worlds.
• 2016 NBA draft position rankings
Strengths: With prototypical size, a comfortable post game and soft touch, Zubac has established himself in the past year or so as one of the top young big men overseas. His body should fill out nicely, he has great hands and feet, and he moves well on both sides of the ball. Zubac is more of a classic post player and makes for a nice upside pick to keep overseas as he matures.
Weaknesses: Zubac is a poor free throw shooter, and his rebounding and defensive instincts have room for improvement. Seasoning against higher-level players will obviously help, as his opportunities have been limited, but that makes for a pretty big uptick in difficulty whenever it happens. He’s probably gotten by more on his considerable natural gifts to this point than anything else. There’s a lot of upside, but he also has a long way to go.
