LA Lakers May Have Found Something Special in Rookie Center Ivica Zubac

LOS ANGELES — For eight long minutes, Los Angeles Lakers rookie center Ivica Zubac chased around the disciplined Utah Jazz, one rebound away from the third double-double of his young career.

As the Lakers tried to trim a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit Thursday night, every rebound seemed to carom away from Zubac. Finally, with 24.9 seconds left, he grabbed a Larry Nance Jr. miss and stuffed it in for a putback dunk.

The Jazz finished with a 96-88 victory, but Zubac ended with a career high in points (16) and his second double-double in as many outings.

The Lakers (16-34) are a win away from matching last year's total, but progress is slow, and any playoff hopes have faded in recent weeks. Head coach Luke Walton has since adjusted his rotation, giving Zubac the opportunity to shine.

Wednesday night was another example of this. Late in the second quarter of a 105-98 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Zubac received a bullet pass from Nance and rose for a dunk. Portland center Mason Plumlee met Zubac at the rim for the block, but the Lakers rebounded the ball and went back to the youngster. The rookie missed a shot right at the basket, grabbed his own rebound, then missed yet again.

It was a frustrating sequence for the Lakers' No. 32 pick in the 2016 NBA draft. But five minutes later, Jordan Clarkson gave Zubac a perfect feed for an easy flush at the rim.

Zubac finished the game with four turnovers while hitting just five of 15 shot attempts; however, when the dust settled, he'd recorded a career-high 28 minutes, scoring 12 points with 10 rebounds, along with personal bests of three blocks and two assists.

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After a solid 10-10 start to the season, injuries and roster immaturity have pushed the Lakers to last in the Western Conference, where draft position should now take priority over winning ballgames.

That's not to say the Lakers should be tanking intentionally. Instead, Walton has looked to give more minutes to develop the inexperienced Zubac.

Despite stretches where he looked a bit lost, Zubac led his team Wednesday with a plus/minus of 13, 12 better than the next-best Laker, Lou Williams. In 26 minutes against the Jazz, Zubac finished with a plus/minus of minus-one, second just to Williams' plus-one.

What happens when the 19-year-old has some NBA experience under his belt?

The rookie has just seven appearances of at least 15 minutes this season after spending most of his time on the court in the NBA Development League with the Los Angeles D-Fenders. Walton was impressed by Zubac's effort on assignment and his 15 minutes during a blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

On Jan. 17, Zubac broke out with an 11-point, 13-rebound, three-block game against the Denver Nuggets.

"I thought Zu was really good today," Walton said after the team's 127-121 home loss to Denver. "When he got in there, he started changing some shots. He got his deflections and had a beautiful pass to Nick [Young] in the corner that would've cut it to one, which is the way we want to play and the way we played earlier in the year. I thought he was really good, but I'm not going to say he turned a corner. I'm just going to say he was really good tonight."

Zubac even got on Young after the game for the miss.

"Zubac came up to me like he was a vet and said, 'You better make your shots or I'm not going to pass it to you again,'" Young recounted. "I said, 'Oh, OK!'"

Walton chose not to overpraise the rookie, who Indiana Pacers veteran Al Jefferson ate up a few days later. Learning how to play in the NBA is not a straight line of progress but a pair of double-doubles sandwiching four- and two-point outings.

He was a bit more effusive on Spectrum SportsNet about Zubac's growing role in the Lakers rotation after the loss in Portland.

Walton suggested he could start tinkering with the Lakers starting lineup, although that may or may not pertain to Zubac's getting the nod over veteran Timofey Mozgov.

The Lakers committed significant resources to forward Luol Deng and Mozgov over the summer, signing contracts at a combined $136 million over four seasons. The Lakers have a pair of 19-year-olds at the same positions who are growing rapidly in Brandon Ingram and Zubac. As they blossom, those free-agent moves will look progressively worse.

Zubac only has a few impressive games under his belt. Ingram went scoreless in both games against the Jazz and Blazers. They have a long, long way to go to reach their potential.

Walton will continue coaching the Lakers to win games, regardless of draft position, but he's better off investing minutes in his rookies. Ingram's 27.9 minutes per game are already the second-highest on the team behind Julius Randle's 29.2, but Zubac has shown enough over the past few games that his minutes should more than double from his average of 12.3.

The Lakers have struggled over recent years, but the team has added on several promising young players like Randle, Ingram, Clarkson, Nance and D'Angelo Russell. Add Zubac to that list of players who, once they mature, will help bring the Lakers a brighter future. 

Lakers Insider Notebook

Russell, Ingram Rising Stars

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The Lakers won't have any players in the All-Star Game in February, but the franchise will still be represented over the celebratory weekend.

Selected by the league's assistant coaches, second-year guard Russell and rookie forward Ingram were named to the Rising Stars Challenge. Both with play for the American team against the best first- and second-year international players.

Ingram is the 10th Laker to earn the honor, while Russell, who participated in the game last season with teammate Clarkson, is the second player in team history to play twice in the annual exhibition (formerly known as the Rookie-Sophomore Game). The first was guard Jordan Farmar.

Other Lakers to previously participate include Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum, Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones and Travis Knight.

The Western Conference starters in the big game will be Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis. The NBA announced the reserves Thursday, but the list didn't feature any Lakers players.

The Lakers have high hopes their prospects will mature into All-Stars, but to date, no one on the roster is close.

In the meantime, Russell and Ingram will join Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns) and Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers). Solid role players include Malcolm Brogdon (Milwaukee Bucks) and Jonathon Simmons (San Antonio Spurs). Others like Jahlil Okafor (Philadelphia 76ers), Frank Kaminsky (Charlotte Hornets) and Marquese Chriss (Phoenix) have shown flashes but are still finding their way.

The best of the international squad includes Kristaps Porzingis (New York Knicks), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) and Joel Embiid (Philadelphia). The roster is rounded out with promising players like Jamal Murray and Emmanuel Mudiay (both with Denver), Trey Lyles and Dante Exum (both with Utah), Domantas Sabonis (Oklahoma City Thunder), Dario Saric (Philadelphia) and Buddy Hield (Pelicans).

South Bay Lakers

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The D-Fenders are rebranding. The Lakers' D-League affiliate will become the South Bay Lakers starting with the 2017-18 season.

"I am excited to announce the South Bay Lakers rebrand," D-Fenders President and Chief Executive Officer Joey Buss said in a statement. "This is an opportunity to leverage the iconic Lakers brand, celebrate our amazing community and emphasize our franchise's accomplishments over the last 10 years while we continue to compete for an NBA D-League championship."

Both the Lakers and D-Fenders will move to a new practice facility this summer, the UCLA Health Training Center, just a few blocks away from their current El Segundo gym.

First-year coach Coby Karl, who played for the team during the 2007-08 season while under contract with the Lakers, has helped lead the D-Fenders (20-6) to the best record in the D-League.

Guard Vander Blue is the team's leading scorer at 24.9 points per game while shooting 39.1 percent from three-point range. Guard Josh Magette is averaging a double-double at 14.6 points and 10.1 assists a night. Both are hoping for an NBA call-up.

While with the D-Fenders for 13 games, Zubac averaged 15.6 points and 9.7 rebounds, hitting 57.8 percent of his shot attempts.

The Lakers will be able to get even more out of their D-League squad next season. Under the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, the team will be able to sign a couple of players to two-way contracts next season.

Two-way players will spend most of their time with South Bay but can join the Los Angeles Lakers for up to 45 days, earning a prorated minimum contract per day they're in the NBA.

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Stats are accurate as of Wednesday. Email Eric Pincus at [e-mail] and follow him on Twitter: @EricPincus.