Our exit interview series on the 2026 Clippers continues with the team’s former franchise center, Ivica Zubac.
Basic Information
Height: 7’0
Weight: 245 pounds
Position: Center
Age: 29
Years in NBA: 10
Key Regular Season Stats: 14.4 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks in 30.9 minutes per game across 43 games played (42 starts) on 61.3/70.5 (3.1 FTA) shooting splits (63.5 True Shooting)
Expectations
Ivica Zubac had maybe the most straightforward expectations of any player on the Clippers. Coming off an exceptional 2025 campaign that saw him earn 2nd Team All Defense honors and garner All-NBA Third Team votes, Zu was locked into the starting center position and was expected to anchor the Clippers on both ends of the court. Statistically, even accounting for a slight drop-off from a career year, people thought Zu would be a double-double machine while scoring in the mid-teens on good efficiency and providing stout interior defense. I don’t think many people believed Zu would quite repeat the caliber of season that he had in 2025, but producing a reasonable facsimile seemed reasonable.
Reality
Like just about every single member of the team, Zu disappointed to start the 2026 season. His counting stats were good (15.2 and 8.6 in October, 16.7 and 12.5 in November on solid efficiency) but his defense slipped in a major way. Zu just did not seem as locked in on that end of the court, to disastrous consequences. The Clippers’ defense was awful for the first couple months of the season, and that 180 degree shift from their excellent defense in the 2025 season was the most critical factor in the 6-21 start that sunk the entire season. Even still, trade rumors began to swirl around Zu as the most attractive trade chip on the sinking Clippers ship.
Then, right when things were at their bleakest, Zu got injured. He was ruled out of the Lakers game on December 20 (which the Clippers ended up winning), and then missed the next five games. Fascinatingly, the Clippers won all five, earning six consecutive victories to get themselves up off the mat. Much was made during this win streak about Brook Lopez’s shooting and how much it opened the court for the Clippers’ offense, but as we saw throughout the season, there wasn’t a ton of credence to that line of thinking. If anything, Brook’s rim protection was what stood out compared to Zu’s, even though the rest of Brook’s game was mostly pretty wanting.
The Clippers were in fact on such a roll without Zu that he came off the bench in his first game back, his first time not starting for the team in years. However, the Clippers lost that one, and Zu resumed starting the next game. The Clippers continued winning, pulling off their famous 15-3 stretch that got them all the way back into the postseason picture in the Western Conference. Zu, of course, was a big part of that run as the team’s starting center and a regular double-double threat.
However, suddenly, James Harden was traded for an injured Darius Garland. The move came out of the blue, and removed Zu’s pick and roll partner from the team. With the Clippers clearly moving towards the future and stepping away from a hard pursuit of success in the 2026 season, all sorts of trade doors opened up. Then, again rather suddenly, came the news that Zubac was being traded to the Indiana Pacers for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks, and a second-round pick. The Clippers went from a surging threat in the West to a tear-down in the blink of an eye, and the longest-tenured player on the team was gone, just like that.
Again, like almost every other Clipper, Zu had a disappointing 2026 season. His stats dipped across the board – minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks all decreased from 2025, his efficiency was worse, and his advanced metrics were much worse. Moreover, while Zu’s defense did improve as the season went along, it was still nowhere close to where it was in 2025, when he was an easy All-Defense Team placement. It’s too bad Zu’s awesome Clippers’ career ended on a bit of a down note – he really did contribute so much to this franchise, and watching him evolve over the years was a true pleasure.
Future with Clippers
As evidenced by how much they traded for him, the Pacers see Zubac as a key part of their franchise’s future. With Tyrese Haliburton returning to action next year, the Pacers will likely be a contender in the Eastern Conference. Thus, at least for next year, Zu seems like a lock to be a Pacer. Considering his contract and the fit of his timeline with Haliburton, there’s quite a strong possibility he’s in Indiana for longer than that – though in today’s NBA, player movement is more frequent than ever.
Add all that up, and it’s tough to see Zu being back on the Clippers any time soon. It’s not that he wouldn’t want to come back at all going forward, or that the Clippers would not want to bring him back – I think the relationship is still quite good on all accounts. I wouldn’t be shocked if Zu returned to the Clippers at some point later in his career, but it’s certainly not a guarantee, and I’d be surprised if it happened in the next few years. Hopefully Zu thrives in Indiana with Haliburton and gets one last big contract out of it.
