Cleveland Cavaliers: Ante Zizic will give Tyronn Lue a secret weapon
The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired a slew of players this offseason, and one of them is Ante Zizic, who will give Tyronn Lue a different weapon down low.
Zizic will be a beast in the NBA, or at least the Cleveland Cavaliers hope so. The 23rd pick in the 2016 NBA Draft is finally ready to make his NBA debut. Here are his summer league highlights.
In that video, Zizic showed his versatility, array of post moves, and passing ability. The Cavaliers will be playing a lot of their minutes in a small-ball lineup or with starter Tristan Thompson on the court, so the need for their backup center may be quite low. Although his minutes may not come at first, Zizic provides a different weapon for Lue, and his potential will certainly get him some rotational minutes. Several areas of Zizic’s game are raw, or at least for now, but he should continue to get better as he gains much-needed NBA experience.
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Back in June, Boston.com labeled Zizic as the most talent prospect you’ve never heard of and said this about him.
"At the very least, it seems he’s a young, athletic, incredibly strong and unrelenting big man who loves to rebound and run the floor.“If the coach just wants me to rebound or play defense, for me that’s no problem,” he said. “I’ve played many different roles on teams. Whatever they need me to do, I can do.”"
SB Nation also spread some good light on Zizic and his potential saying:
"Zizic is a 7-footer who was drafted by the Celtics with the No. 23 pick in the 2016 NBA draft. He was named the 2015-16 Adriatic Basketball Association’s top prospect, where he averaged 12.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game."
Those are some solid numbers. He does everything that a coach would want from a big man.
For quite some last before the postseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers looked for a shot-blocker, but they kept lucking out. First, it was Chris Andersen who got injured early in the season. Then names like Larry Sanders and Andrew Bogut were mentioned. Bogut signed with the Cavaliers, and then with their luck, he got injured. They eventually just settled for Edy Tavares, but it’s expected that he will be cut following training camp.
All that to say, the Cavaliers need Zizic to be their man down low. He is a 7-footer with good rim-protecting instincts. That’s where Zizic will earn minutes. Hopefully, Zizic will be able to put together a better offensive game than the Cavaliers’ former shot-blockers, Andrew Bogut and Chris Andersen.
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The Cavaliers needed a guy like Zizic, and now they will have the opportunity to