Los Angeles Lakers rookie center Ivica Zubac could reportedly fill-in for the injured Timofey Mozgov if the newly-acquired Russian will not be able to start the new season.
The 30-year-old Russia national team center said to have suffered a groin injury during an international friendly match against Ukraine last Friday. The injury was confirmed by an MRI a day later and Mozgov was diagnosed to miss "Russia's next two games at its international tournament in Tbilisi, Georgia" and will be "re-evaluated sometime" this week, according to RealGM.
The injury was said to be a huge blow for the Lakers squad, who had signed Mozgov to a massive four-year, $64 million contract early last month, which would earn him around $15 million next season.
A lot of NBA analysts were saying that it was not a good investment for the Lakers as the cost is too much for the team to spend on a player that is not considered a star or did not even possess any star potential anymore because of his age.
Now, with rumors going out that Mozgov might be at risk of missing the whole 2016-2017 season due to the said injury, more criticisms about his signing had continued to emerge.
The 7-foot-1, 275-pound Leningrad, Russia native was marginally used by Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue last season as he is deemed a surplus to Cleveland's needs. He averaged 6.3 points and 4.4 rebounds playing in 17.4 minutes per game last season and was even more unutilized in the playoffs when he only appeared in 13 games, playing 5.8 minutes a night and averaging 1.2 points and 1.6 boards.
In other words, he was not instrumental in the Cavaliers' championship run last season.
SB Nation reported that Zubac, who was selected 32nd overall by the Lakers in last June's NBA draft, could "fill in for the team's big free agent" if Mozgov's "injury lingers".
The 19-year-old Croatian had an impressive performance in the recent Summer League, ranking second in blocked shots with 2.6 a game, and many Lakers fans are said to be "high on him moving forward".
It remains to be seen, though, whether new head coach Luke Walton believes he can replace what Mozgov could provide the squad at this point or if he is still too raw for the grind of the NBA regular season.