Ivica Zubac's Value to the Clippers is Immense, and They Know It
The 8-year NBA vet understands how he impacts the game, even if outsiders don't see it.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Ivica Zubac understands why he gets overlooked when discussing the top defensive centers in the league.
He’s not as physically imposing as Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert or San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama, two big men who mystify you with their length and ability to contest shots that seem out of reach for normal humans.
“I think, I mean, most of those defensive stats, categories, I’m up there, but it’s OK [to not get acclaim for it],” Zubac told Russo Writes in an exclusive interview. “I’m used to it. I just do my job.”
He’s not as heralded as guys like the Lakers’ Anthony Davis or Miami’s Bam Adebayo. And that is OK to Zubac, who is quietly shuffling along in his eighth NBA season as the current longest-tenured member of the LA Clippers. Zubac, 26, is presently 17th in franchise history in games played and, barring injury, will reach the Top 15 in a few months.
Since Zubac arrived at the 2019 trade deadline, the Clippers have routinely ranked inside the Top 10 for full-season defense:
2019-20: 106.9 defensive rating (5th)
2020-21: 110.6 defensive rating (8th)
2021-22: 109.5 defensive rating (8th)
2022-23: 113.6 defensive rating (17th)
2023-24: 110.3 defensive rating (6th)
Even when adjusting for how the defense performed when Zubac was on or off the floor, it still favored the Clippers’ starting center quite well over the years (a positive Defensive Net Rating signifies the Clippers were that many points better with Zubac on the floor compared to off; a negative Defensive Net Rating implies the inverse):
107.7 defensive rating with Zubac ON
112.3 defensive rating with Zubac OFF
+4.6 Defensive Net Rating
105.4 defensive rating with Zubac ON
108.8 defensive rating with Zubac OFF
+3.4 Defensive Net Rating
111.2 defensive rating with Zubac ON
112.4 defensive rating with Zubac OFF
+1.2 Defensive Net Rating
113.5 defensive rating with Zubac ON
106.8 defensive rating with Zubac OFF
-6.7 Defensive Net Rating
114.6 defensive rating with Zubac ON
115.1 defensive rating with Zubac OFF
+0.5 Defensive Net Rating
108.4 defensive rating with Zubac ON
113.2 defensive rating with Zubac OFF
+4.8 Defensive Net Rating
Since the starting lineup change on Nov. 17, the Clippers are 7-3 and boast the NBA’s third-best defense, trailing only the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I think we’ve been pretty solid on defense the whole year,” Zubac remarked. “It’s just I think we’re locked in more, we’re not turning the ball over as much so we’re much better in transition defense and not allowing a lot of transition defense points. I think we’re doing a better job with second-chance points. That kind of stuff I think hurt us a lot more in the beginning of the year and we’re more focused on that kind of stuff and I think that’s helping us a lot.”
Zubac isn’t wrong in his perception.
Over their first 10 games, a 3-7 stretch that saw the team lose six in a row at one point, the Clippers were 17th in the league in opponent points off turnovers per 100 possessions and ranked 22nd in opponent fast break points per 100 possessions. Not to be outdone, they sat a disastrous 28th in opponent second-chance points per 100 possessions, only ahead of the Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
But fortunes have changed over these last 10 contests.
Since Nov. 17, the Clippers have allowed the third-fewest points off turnovers per 100 possessions and the 12th-fewest fast break points per 100 possessions. And, if you can believe it, they’ve allowed the ninth-fewest second-chance points per 100 possessions during that time. Those factors have all worked in combination to allow the Clippers to clamp down on the defensive end over the last few weeks.
“I think we’re one of the best pick-and-roll defenses,” said Zubac. “We’re one of the best teams defending the rim, top-five defense in the league, so that’s all I care about.”
On the subject of pick-and-roll defense, Zubac also has a point. Teams aren’t gashing the Clippers when rolling to the rim, at least not like some other teams in the league.
For the season, the Clippers are allowing the ninth-fewest points per possession to roll men in pick-and-roll settings. On top of that, they’re just not giving opponents anything easy around the rim, further showing Zubac’s value to the team.
Opponents have seen 30.5 percent of their total field goal attempts come at the rim against the Clippers, a figure that sits eight-best in the league. Since Nov. 17, however, that number has dropped to 28.8 percent and puts the Clippers firmly inside the top five when it comes to outright preventing rim attempts.
While opponents are converting a middle-of-the-road 66.1 percent of their rim attempts since Nov. 17, the lack of rim attacks is what stands out.
There’s word of a famed “sheet” that has been passed around that lists roughly 20 centers, ranked from first to last based on the percentage of rim attacks that have led to opponents not shooting when approaching a certain defensive big — i.e. rim deterrence. Zubac ranks fourth in that department, according to a source with knowledge of the list. Centers like Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl and Denver’s Nikola Jokic rank near the bottom.
When it comes to defensive value, one could surmise that stopping opponents from shooting is more valuable than opponents shooting. Especially on shots close to or at the rim.
To that point, since Nov. 17, the Clippers are allowing the sixth-fewest restricted area attempts in the league on a per-game basis — they’re allowing 22.4 restricted area field goal attempts in that time, which is down by three attempts per game before the aforementioned lineup change.
“Just having a presence down there where it’s like, you’ll drive and once you see him it’s like, ‘All right, we’re gonna get off it, kick it out, go somewhere else with it,’” rookie forward Kobe Brown told Russo Writes in regards to Zubac and his rim deterrence.
“That definitely helps a whole lot because guys aren’t just attacking your rim at their own disposal or whatever, so just having a guy down there that can deter people from coming to the rim helps the defense a lot. Keeps people out [of] the paint.”
It’s been a big part of Zubac’s development, not just this season but over the years.
Zubac was drafted with the 32nd overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016. He made his NBA debut on Nov. 2, 2016, finishing with six points and four rebounds in 19 minutes. That night marked Zubac’s first career start, which was a big moment for a 19-year-old second-round pick just two weeks into his first season.
Since then, Zubac has learned a lot and progressed even more as he’s become a linchpin for one of the NBA’s best teams over the last decade.
“All my draft videos, if you go back on YouTube, everyone was talking about how I cannot play defense and that’s my weakness,” said Zubac.
Zubac continued: “Once I got to the league, ‘OK, I gotta figure out that end to get on the floor and stay on the floor.’ I feel like just understanding the game [is where he’s improved the most]. Spent a lot of time, asked a lot of questions, and watched a lot of film. I was trying to learn a lot on that end, played with some great, great defensive bigs, great defensive players that I picked up a lot [from]. Just understanding that part of the — how the rotation works, how communication is big. As a big, you gotta communicate, you gotta navigate everything, you gotta read a lot of stuff, you gotta read it before it happens. I think just kind of doing all that and how the game — with years, with experience — it slowed down and I’m able to make those reads faster and make those calls faster, make them quick for my teammates. That’s the biggest progression for me.”
The Clippers’ biggest progression since Zubac’s arrival those years ago has been on the defensive end, and the strides that the center has made have not only boosted the team’s profile but his own for those within the organization.
For the Clippers’ longest-tenured player, he’s OK with people overlooking him. He knows that the ones that truly count aren’t.
“People that need to know what I do, they know what I do.”