Croats in NBA: LA Lakers Trade Ivica Zubac to Clippers

Daniela Rogulj

Updated on:

Ivica Zubac is no longer a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. 

The promising young Croatian center Ivica Zubac will no longer play with the best basketballer in the world – LeBron James. Namely, the two teams from Los Angeles, the Clippers and Lakers, have arranged a trade, which affected Zubac, reports Gol.hr on February 7, 2019. 

Thus, the LA Lakers sent Zubac and Michael Beasly to the LA Clippers in exchange for Mike Muscala, the former Philadelphia 76ers wing center. By sending two players for one, the Lakers have released one place in the roster, which can be filled with players in the buyout market. As it is known, some teams waive players or pay off their contract to open a place in their roster. One of the players suspected of completing the Lakers roster is Carmelo Anthony. 

The new Lakers player Mike Muscala is averaging less than eight points and five rebounds this season, with a shot below 40 percent, which is very weak for the wing center.

Zubac this season, however, averaged 8.5 points for the Lakers, with 3.9 rebounds, and in the last few weeks, he was particularly good on the court. The 21-year-old is in his third NBA season and has spent all of them with the Lakers, who chose him in the 2016 draft as the 32nd choice.

Zubac thanked the Lakers for his time at the club and said it was his dream to play in LA since he was a kid. 

In other NBA news, Croatia’s best basketball player continues with his best form this season. While we know Bojan Bogdanović has always been good; lately, he’s been fantastic.

The timing could not have been better for the Croatian star to shine as the Pacers have been without their crucial man Victor Oladipo. Thankfully, Babo has saved the day ever since. 

Namely, after Bogdanović took care of Miami, he drifted from the East to the West Coast to destroy the Lakers first, led by LeBron, who suffered the worst defeat of his career, and then continued to defeat the Clippers.

Indiana celebrated 116:92, and Bogdanović was yet again the best scorer with 29 points. Babo achieved excellent shots in play (12/19), while he was 3/6 on three-pointers. He also made both free throws.

Babo rounded off his beautiful play with seven rebounds, three steals, and one assist.

Furthermore, Orlando Magic beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 122:112, and although he was on the defeated side, Dario Šarić is making a comeback. With 21 minutes on the court, he scored 17 points (shots in play 7/11) with eight rebounds. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page

 

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