The Los Angeles Clippers and center Ivica Zubac have agreed to a three-year, $58.6 million contract extension, tying him to the franchise for $70 million through the 2027-2028 season, his agents Mike Lindeman and Jeff Schwartz of Excel informed ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.
Zubac, 27, will sign the maximum deal available to him for three seasons under the terms of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, per Wojnarowski. The 7-footer averaged career highs of 11.7 points and 1.2 blocks per game in 68 appearances (all starts) last season.
Furthermore, Zubac averaged 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 26.4 minutes per game while shooting 64.9% from the field and 72.3% at the free throw line. He ended the 2023-24 season with a player efficiency rating of 19.3 as well.
Here is the breakdown of the extension:
2025/26- $18.1M
2026/27- $19.5M
2027/28- $21.0M https://t.co/wcf6wO0j1e
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) August 30, 2024
His 64.9% shooting percentage in the regular season was third best in the league, just behind Daniel Gafford and Rudy Gobert, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Additionally, Zubac also held offensive opponents to 49.6% shooting at the rim last season, best in the league among players to defend 200-plus shots, per Second Spectrum.
In his eighth season, Zubac finished 19th in total rebounds (626), 11th in offensive boards (196), 19th in blocks (83), sixth in true shooting percentage (67.1%), and third in offensive rating (132.4).
In Los Angeles’ 113-104 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Nov. 27, 2023, he recorded a season-high 23 points on 9-of-15 (60%) shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 (62.5%) at the foul line.
Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac will enter his ninth NBA season in 2024-25 and seventh campaign with team
During the Clippers’ Western Conference first-round playoff series loss to the Dallas Mavericks, he averaged 16.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist, and 32 minutes per contest in six games.
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank praised Zubac during his end-of-season press conference. In fact, he mentioned a few other impressive statistics from the Croatian big man.
“We love Zu and [would] love to keep Zu here,” Frank said. “I think James [Harden] had a lot to do with unlocking it,” he said of Zubac’s career season. “Zu I think led the league in shooting percentage between six and eight feet.
“You know, [he] developed a floater with either hand. I think he was second in points produced out of post-ups behind [Kristaps] Porzingis [of the Boston Celtics].”
Moreover, he’ll be starting his ninth NBA season in 2024-25 and seventh campaign with the Clippers, where he arrived in a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018.
The Clippers lost All-NBA forward Paul George to the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.
However, Los Angeles re-signed free agent guard James Harden to a new deal, and the franchise retained free agents Nicolas Batum and Derrick Jones.
Zubac helps make the Clippers playoff contenders as the club’s starting center.
