Zubac has quietly been one of the NBA’s better centers over the past few years.
Ivica Zubac is one of the most underrated players in basketball. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Clippers are keeping Ivica Zubac for a few more years.
The Croatian big man agreed to a three-year, $58.6 million contract extension on Friday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal is reportedly the most Zubac could get for three years and locks him in for the next four years, at a price of $70 million.
The Clippers were widely expected to extend Zubac this offseason after another strong season in the paint. Now 27 years old, Zubac has quietly become one of the better centers in the NBA over the past few years, and that continued last year with a career high in points per game.
Zubac will likely never be an All-Star, but his rebounding, paint defense and pick-and-roll work with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden make him a vital piece of the Clippers’ core. Not bad for a player the team got for a relative pittance (an aging Mike Muscala) in 2019.
The contract was an easy decision for the Clippers in a difficult offseason. The team saw All-Star Paul George exit for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency after failing to reach an extension with him. It also bid farewell to key reserves Russell Westbrook and Mason Plumlee, while adding potential contributors in Derrick Jones Jr., Kevin Porter Jr. and the returning Nicolas Batum.
Zubac will enter the 2024-25 season with Mo Bamba and Kai Jones as the big men behind him.
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