^That is correct. Also Nance's style will naturally lead to more injuries and there is always the worry of him missing extended time. That already disqualifies him as a starter in the NBA.
This is why I said I'd trade almost anyone on this team for the right player. Except Zubac. We're never going to find a better center with this potential and with this attitude.
What he did last night is even more impressive when you realize he played in 4 games in the past 5 nights, including D-League games.
Imagine when he starts to shed that 18% body fat, adds a few pounds of muscle, would do wonders for his mobility, which is decent already for his size.
Maybe its his lack of xp and not being pc but I love that he is the 1st and only player I've heard from where he blasted the team for poor efforts. We've had alot of these types of games and NOBODY ever calls out their efforts as a collective, just a bunch of generic we gota do this or that better followed by more of the same crappy effort into the next gm.
Zubac is an excellent finisher with a very soft touch around the rim. The thing that will make or break him in the NBA will be, whether he is a player you can run plays through..a guy to initiate your offense in early sets. Can he make the reads, does he have the arsenal of post moves, DHOs, pop up shots etc. to mix things up and adjust to the defensive sets? if he is such a guy with these abilities, then he might be the next Jokic because thats what Jokic does for the Nuggets and thats why their offense has been so incredibly good with him. If he isn't, he will be a "dead end" on offense. A guy that throws up a shot every time he touches it, then he becomes Enes Kanter or Al Jefferson...a great finisher will very little value. For Zubac to be an impactful force in the NBA he needs to be able to make the reads and use his skills to "command" double teams to initiate the offense. If they double, make the reads and if they don't, go to work. I'm cautiously optimistic that he can become that guy but I have seen nothing in this regard yet. Its just at 19 he still has a lot of time to figure it out.
Alternatively, he could improve on defence and just be an incredibly solid two way player that can score and defend well. Also, nothing wrong with a center you can throw it to in the post, that can get you a bucket. In my opinion that doesn't make him a black hole or an al Jefferson or Enes Kanter value level player either. It's just a strength we can work with, something akin to Andrew Bynum - who wasn't really great at having an offence run through him, he didn't made great reads all the time. I think Jokic is incredibly unique, that shouldn't be the measuring stick or what we expect at all.
Seems like Zu has the makings of a willing and good passing center as well as increasing repertoire of shots and good screen setting.
In the small sample sizes I've seen, Zubac will be a good passer. He's a little slow on his reads, but he knows where to look already in the offense. He does well running the baseline and he was doing well on the short roll too. I don't know what he can be, but his comparison to me is still going to be Marc Gasol. I want him to continue to focus defensively too. He is a surprisingly decent rim protector given his athletic limitations because he's got a fantastic reach. He's got a long, long way to go to be Marc, but there's nothing wrong with aiming high and so far he hasn't really established a ceiling for himself outside of pick and roll defense.
Zu is also hungry enough to put that big body on the floor after the ball if necessary. Good sign even if not safe practice. Hey did Hibbert happen to fall on the floor again the other night? Was watching on time shift and dosing by then with the rout. Was surprised as hell next morning to see Zu had 25 and 11.
Yes Mark Gasol is another guy that can initiate the offense from the post, just like Jokic. If he becomes that type of guy, we are set for at least 10 years at C. He can block shots and he can convert baskets. That would be amazing. But if he can "get buckets", well thats still great for a second round pick but that doesn't make you a foundational piece of a franchise. As far as Bynum goes, he was also bad at initiating the offense. But Bynum was a BEAST on both ends, even though he was too selfish and had a tunnel vision. Zubac isn't that type of overpowering guy. But you look at the great bigmen...Cousins, Towns, Horford, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, Jokic, Gasol etc...they all can initiate the offense to a degree and score. A guy like Anthony Davis also isn't great at this but his other stats more than make up for it.
There are 33 entries for teenage bigs on Basketball Reference.com. Zubac's current ranks: Points: 14th Rebounds: 16th Assists: 13th Steals: 16th Blocks: 13th FG%: 6th TS%: 7th He could finish top 10 in all of these categories.
