Cleveland Cavaliers: Steven Adams is the realistic ceiling of Ante Zizic

With traditional big men becoming less useful, what’s Ante Zizic’s ceiling and will he be playable for the Cleveland Cavaliers?

In the 2018 blockbuster offseason trade, the Cleveland Cavaliers requested Ante Zizic in the deal that sent superstar Kyrie Irving to Boston. Additionally, Cleveland received Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas, and the 2019 Brooklyn Nets first-round pick which turned out to be Collin Sexton.

That said, while Ante Zizic wasn’t a major piece in the puzzle, will he be a useful one for the Cavaliers?

There are two types of traditional big men in the league right now.

Type one is players like Rudy Gobert and Clint Capela. They are mainly defensive bigs that allow superior rim protector yet can contain smaller guards when switched on. This type has proven to be extremely effective both defensively and offensively.

The second type is the unplayable big men such as Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside struggles to move laterally and isn’t an elite offensive rebounder. Combine those two characteristics, and it’s easy to see why Spo played him 15.4 minutes per game throughout their five postseason games.

Which type of player is Ante Zizic?

Just as the Cavs management hopes he can be, Zizic has the skill set and potential to the type one big man. But, he’ll certainly have things to work on.

Zizic must be able to defend the perimeter. Against NBA-level guards, that’ll be his main concern, but whether Zizic can stay on the floor will be impacted by much more than just perimeter defense.

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Offensively, Zizic, a huge 6-foot-11, can be productive. In just 32 games, Zizic scored 3.7 points per game. Pretty unimpressive, right? Well, in those 32 games, the Croatian big shot over 70% from the field.

Of players that shot over two shots per game, Zizic ranked No. 1 in field goal percentage at 73.1%. An efficient monster in the low post, he’s got several characteristics of a big that can play significant minutes in the modern-day NBA.

If you double his minutes and his scoring, can he keep that efficiency up? Can he continue to be a monster in the post against other team’s starting center? Those are two questions that must be answered before Zizic is awarded a starting role.

A realistic ceiling for Zizic is the native New Zealand big man Steven Adams. Adams averaged 14 points per game on 63% from the field last season. He’s a force on the boards and can provide an array of mid-range moves to get him to his spot on the court.

Adams has become a fundamental piece of the Thunder’s core, and if Zizic can slim down and become an Adams-type player, he’ll have the chance to live up to the first-round value that he was taken with.

Zizic doesn’t show the elite scoring ability it takes to average over 20 a night, but if he can contribute 10 points and 8 boards, the Cavs would be impressed with the 21-year-old.