This is a career-defining year for Ivica Zubac. In a bit of a surprise, the Los Angeles Lakers chose to exercise his third-year option while releasing Thomas Bryant, giving Zubac a chance to redeem a disappointing 2017-18 season where he fell behind in Las Vegas Summer League and never seemed to catch up.
He spent much of his summer playing with the Croatian National Team, as they looked to qualify for the 2019 World Cup in Beijing. European basketball is more structured than the NBA, and they run significantly more set plays instead of playing by principle in live ball situations.