Ivica Zubac Injury Makes Clippers Trade Decisions Easier

The Los Angeles Clippers' season is effectively over after Ivica Zubac's ankle sprain.

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Ivica Zubac left the Los Angeles Clippers' win over the Lakers on Saturday night with an ankle injury in the first quarter. He was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game. On Sunday, the Clippers announced that their starting center had suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain and would be re-evaluated in three weeks.

Official from the LA Clippers:

Ivica Zubac suffered a Grade 2 left ankle sprain and will be reevaluated in three weeks.

— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) December 21, 2025

Ivica Zubac's Injury Leaves Clippers No Choice But to Sell at Trade Deadline

This is obviously a devastating development for the 7-21 Clippers. The backup center has been an issue for the Clippers all season. Brook Lopez has been disappointing, even losing his rotation spot at various points in the season. Yanic Konan Niederhauser is an inexperienced rookie and has not looked ready to contribute. With no other traditional centers on the roster, this will be a real problem.

Ty Lue will almost certainly play extended minutes with no centers. Small-ball lineups haven't worked particularly well for the Clippers this season, either. In fact, Zubac has the best on/off rating on the team this season, as the Clippers have a net rating of -15.4 without him on the floor. This means that wins will be hard to come by without Zubac over the next three weeks.

Even in the most conservative estimate, Zu will miss at least ten games. That will bring us near the halfway point in the season. Considering that the Clippers have the point differential of the worst team in the NBA in Zubac-less minutes, it's difficult to imagine them winning more than a few games that Zubac doesn't play in. The Clippers going 4-6 without Zubac seems like a very optimistic scenario. Even then, they would be 11-27, leaving very little time to turn things around and chase a Play-In spot.

One silver lining in all of this is it clarifies what the Clippers should do before the February 5 trade deadline. Zubac's extended absence makes it even more obvious that the team needs to pivot and rebuild. This is a lost season and the Clippers need to treat the fact that they owe their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder as a sunk cost. Bottoming out may not net them a high lottery pick right away, but trading Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Zubac (once he returns from injury) will help them restock the asset drawers.

This will brighten the future of the organization that has very few assets in terms of young players and draft capital. If Zubac's injury forces Lawrence Frank and Steve Ballmer to find religion on this, it could be seen as a blessing in disguise.