How Ante Zizic can have a bigger impact for the Cleveland Cavaliers

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CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 07: Ante Zizic #41 of the Cleveland Cavaliers waves to the crowd during the 2018 NBA Finals Legacy Project – NBA Cares on June 07, 2018 at the Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Cleveland Cavaliers youngster Ante Zizic should have more chances to showcase his development in 2018-19.

During the latter part of the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a frontcourt rotation that mainly featured Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Jeff Green and Larry Nance Jr.

On the season, center Ante Zizic appeared in just 32 games for Cleveland but was efficient when he was on the floor.

In 6.7 minutes per game, he averaged 3.7 points on 73.1 percent shooting to go with 1.9 rebounds.

He is predominantly a pick-and-roll diver currently with the Cavaliers, and opponents are not going to be game-planning for Zizic. Nonetheless, with plenty of unknown surrounding Thompson after a lackluster 2017-18 campaign and with Green now on the Washington Wizards, Zizic could get some more run this year.

Thompson is still not much offensively as a scorer. He’s shown he can put down lob passes out of the pick-and-roll effectively throughout his career but he’s still not developed much of a post presence and is never going to be a realistic threat outside five feet.

Nance will mostly be a diver and screen assist artist, too, but he is a much more effective passer than the non-Love bigs in the rotation. He has good instincts, and is one of the most explosive athletes on the Cavaliers.

That being said, Zizic is best suited to be Cleveland’s bench post man with Love off the floor. He won’t be commanding double-teams but he is decisive with a soft touch around the basket and should get better with more usage.