Extending Mann, Zubac should be top priority for Clippers this summer
The pair, both 27, are entering the final year of their respective deals.
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — Retaining your best players is usually goal number one for any team entering a pivotal offseason. But for the LA Clippers, the top priority for the organization this summer should involve retaining and extending two players who have embodied what it means to be a Clipper, or at least how the franchise has defined that word.
Ever since president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank took over the top job in 2017, the team has preached the need to find players that fit the “hardworking” and “good character” mantra.
The Clippers already have two seamless cornerstones who fit that bill on the roster.
Terance Mann is coming off a season in which he shot 51.5% from the field and 34.8% on 3s. But for Mann, you need to split his season into two parts: 2023 and 2024.
In 2023, Mann averaged 6.4 points on 38.3% shooting overall and was just 15-for-77 (19.5%) on 3s. That all changed when the calendar flipped to 2024. In the new year, Mann averaged 9.9 points on 58% shooting while connecting on a resounding 44.1% of his triple tries (56-for-127).
“[Mann] got off to a slow start to the season, which we gotta do some hypnotism or something with him,” Frank said at his end-of-season presser on Monday. “But he always gets off to a great close and great finish.”
Frank isn’t wrong when it comes to Mann finishing strong. Last season, Mann shot 41.5% on 3s from Jan. 1, 2023, to the end of the season on Apr. 9, 2023.
The issue for Mann is he doesn’t shoot enough. It could be argued that if you’re going to be a roleplayer around James Harden, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard, you need to let it fly a little more often, especially when you’re such a high-efficiency player around the rim and from beyond the arc. This season, Mann shot 75.7% inside the restricted area. Coupled with the way he shot the 3-ball in 2024, as well as being a respectable 37.3% overall from deep in his career, Mann needs to take more of the opportunities he’s been presented.
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The value that Mann brings isn’t solely tied to his shotmaking or ability to space the floor, either. He’s a uniquely valuable player tasked with guarding the other team’s best scoring options as a way to limit the wear and tear of both Leonard and George on the defensive end. It’s not fair to Mann to draw that endeavor while both Leonard and George escape some of the responsibilities that come with being star players, but it’s also an assignment Mann enjoys undertaking.
In the team’s first-round series defeat to the Dallas Mavericks, it was Mann who drew the Luka Doncic assignment. According to the NBA’s tracking data, which should be noted can be especially wonky when parsing through the film, Mann defended Doncic on 140 possessions and held the all-world talent to 35 total points on 15-for-39 shooting. Doncic was 0-for-12 on 3s when defended by Mann.
There’s legitimate two-way ability in Mann’s repertoire, and it would behoove the Clippers to keep that level of player around considering their lack of overall team athleticism and youthful-ish weapons that they can deploy.
“You love the fact that Terance is a competitor,” Frank told reporters on Monday. “And so very much, Terance is part of the fabric of the group.”
Mann, whose name was bandied about in the neverending James Harden trade negotiations eight months ago, has one year and $11.4 million remaining on his current contract. But Mann is extension eligible this offseason just as he was last offseason. While the team and Mann did not come to a deal then, it wouldn’t preclude them from doing so now. Neither Mann’s representatives nor the Clippers truly came to the table last summer in the hopes of getting a deal done, with one source telling Russo Writes that it didn’t make sense for either side at the time.
This summer is crucial, though. And getting it right would go a long way to garnering some goodwill with a fanbase that is presently struggling to find much to be excited about after the way this season and the last few have gone. Extending Mann would help.
Mann will be 28 by the time the 2024-25 season tips off, and locking a homegrown player up for his prime years should be an outright priority for the organization, whether or not George and Harden return.
Like Mann, center Ivica Zubac has spent his formative years with the Clippers organization and presently has just one year remaining on his current contract. Zubac’s $11.7 million cap hit for next season is a pittance for the production and value that he provides the team and his ability to play through injury and illness.
The 27-year-old shot 64.9% from the field in 2023-24, taking a career-high 7.6 attempts per game. Zubac also grabbed 9.2 rebounds and blocked 1.2 shots per contest while averaging a career-best 11.7 points.
It wasn’t just the raw numbers where Zubac excelled. The big man led the entire NBA in field goal percentage in what’s deemed as floater range, showing deft touch around the rim with either hand. Zubac also was second in the entire league among players in post-up points per possession, trailing only Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis.
Zubac had a fantastic postseason during the six-game loss to Dallas, averaging 16.2 points and 9.3 rebounds in 32.0 minutes. Zubac shot 60% from the field and the Clippers were 9.5 points per 100 possessions better with Zubac on the floor compared to off in the series, the top mark on the team among the six players to log at least 20 minutes per game.
Finding serviceable centers, at least in theory, isn’t tough. But finding one that does all the things Zubac has been able to do and improve upon while being a model of health and consistency is notably rare. Only 15 centers in the league played as many minutes per game as Zubac (26.0) and in as many games (68) this past season.
“[Zubac] had a career year,” said Frank. “I think James [Harden] had a lot to do with unlocking it.” Harden assisted Zubac on 99 made baskets this season, the most any player has ever assisted Zubac throughout a single season of the big man’s career.
Zubac has grown leaps and bounds during his time with the Clippers, and the center presently sits as the longest-tenured player on the entire roster. While not purely homegrown, he is a player that the franchise can point to as one they helped mold into the player he is today, which makes players like him, Mann, and forward Amir Coffey all the more valuable to an organization that needs to find gains on the margins.
“He’s 27, he continues to work,” Frank said of Zubac. “He loves to play every single night and hates when he got injured, it just kills him not to play in a game. He’s our longest-tenured Clipper. So, we’ll have conversations with Jeff and Mike Lindemann, his agents at Excel. And if an extension makes sense, we love Zu and would love to keep Zu here.”
Keeping players like Mann and Zubac as focal points around Leonard, as well as George and Harden if they return, should be the top priority for the Clippers this offseason. A team that faces roster crunch issues due to the second apron cannot afford to let worthwhile peripheral talent escape them with no means to replace their production and impact.
While Mann and Zubac are both entering the final year of their respective deals and could also find themselves on the trade block should the Clippers opt to retool in different ways, having two players who fans have seen grow under the Clippers’ umbrella can only be a good thing.
You can’t always go big-game hunting. You can’t have a roster of just stars and no one willing to get their hands dirty when it calls for it. That’s what Mann and Zubac have provided and would continue providing to this team due to their age, experience, and mindset.
If the team truly cares about keeping the “hardworking, good character” players on the roster, they can start by making a long-term commitment to two guys who have embodied that during their time with the franchise and reward them by upping their responsibilities and minutes in the process.
It’s time to make the motto pay off.