Going into this season and even in the season, I would’ve thought it’d be wise for the Cleveland Cavaliers to bring back Ante Zizic for next season/perhaps longer. It’s evident that they shouldn’t end up re-signing Zizic at this point in the upcoming free agency period, though.
This past offseason and often throughout the 2018-19 season, I clearly believed that Ante Zizic looked to be a nice reserve player for the Cleveland Cavaliers to utilize in some meaningful scenarios and develop in coming years.
I still believe Zizic can have a decent career if he can get healthier going forward in the league, as Zizic can still be a good reserve post and rolling threat with quality footwork and feel inside as a finisher that can help teams in spurts.
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Last season, Zizic, while injuries to Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson of course played into it, Ante did have 7.8 points per game on 55.3 percent shooting, to go with 5.4 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game, as noted by Basketball Reference.
The 6-foot-10 center has flashed a nice mid-range game in the short roll, too, as evidenced by him hitting 50.0 percent of his career attempts from 10-16 feet out in his near-three-year career thus far, on a 9.8 percent frequency, according to Basketball Reference.
Nonetheless, after I admit I thought Zizic could’ve taken some more strides as a reserve big for Cleveland in 2019-20 in his fourth season, his lack of availability this year has limited that possibility. This is really unfortunate for Zizic, because this summer, he was reportedly in the best shape of his life, but often since, he’s been sidelined.
Zizic didn’t play until mid-November for the Cavaliers due to nagging issues with plantar fasciitis in his left foot dating back to training camp, and Zizic I’d have thought could’ve eventually played more this season, had he been healthier to this point.
Going into the league’s suspension in response to wanting to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic following the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert testing positive for it on March 11 (and other NBA personnel since) where you can find further updates here and also here, Zizic had only appeared in 22 of Cleveland’s of 65 games played, and played just 10.0 minutes in those appearances.
A vestibular condition Zizic suffered with vertigo symptoms after he was banged in the head accidentally in a January 11 game at the Denver Nuggets also didn’t help Zizic’s chances for potentially getting more minutes post-trade deadline, and had that not been the case, I’d have thought maybe Thompson could’ve had a higher chance of being dealt.
Granted, Tristan Thompson and Andre Drummond, if the season does resume at some point, which is unclear for now, will be making it really difficult for Zizic to see any meaningful minutes if they are healthier anyhow, which after a long hiatus, I’d think very well could be.
Plus, even before Drummond was a Cavalier, Zizic was definitely not close to the same defensive presence, especially on the interior, of John Henson, who before being traded to the Detroit Pistons in a deal where Cleveland ultimately acquired Drummond near the deadline, was leading the Cavs in blocks per game with 1.1, per NBA.com.
Furthermore, Zizic’s lack of lateral quickness and agility have really capped his minutes-share, and with him not being healthy nearly enough this season anyway, the Cleveland Cavaliers shouldn’t end up re-signing Zizic, whenever the upcoming offseason is.
Though it’s not certain at this time, I’d expect Drummond to, when the offseason is, opt in to his $28.8 million player option for next season, and perhaps the Cavaliers can have a larger sample size of the Kevin Love-Andre Drummond pairing, or if the Cavs do look to trade Love, perhaps we will see more of how Drummond works out with maybe Larry Nance Jr. a bunch or how Drummond works with say, Dayton’s Obi Toppin.
Cleveland again could seemingly keep Love, too, but even with it appearing that according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, that TT is likely to play elsewhere next season, I’d still not expect Zizic to have much meaningful run next year.
Plus, I could see the Cavs targeting USC’s Onyeka Okongwu in the 2020 NBA Draft, too, and I’d think if Cleveland selected him or even Toppin, I wouldn’t see it as being sensible to bring Zizic back, who has shown no real signs of floor spacing potential, and is not a rim protector at all, which with his size, makes him tough to play even as a reserve a bunch going forward.
Moreover, while I was pretty surprised that the Cleveland Cavaliers did not pick up Zizic’s option for next season back in October, which in turn made him on an expiring contract this season, that now seemed like a smart move.
Zizic has played sparingly this year, and even though he still could be a decent reserve piece for other clubs in spurts some in coming years as a post-up threat, his lack of impact defensively, lack of floor spacing ability and lack of athleticism to me suggests that Cleveland shouldn’t bring back Zizic next season, even if re-signing him were on presumably a very team-friendly deal in the upcoming free agency period.
Zizic, for context, was due to make just under $2.3 million in 2019-20; the league is not for certain, paying players on April 15/going forward, though, h/t ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
At any rate, I was somewhat looking forward to seeing what Zizic could do this year, but with his injuries throughout this season limiting his progression, I’d rather Cavs general manager Koby Altman and the front office let the 23-year-old big man look for a deal elsewhere instead, whenever the offseason turns out to be.
This season has been a really tough one for Zizic, but it is what it is, and especially if Cleveland goes with a big man in the coming draft and Drummond does pick up his option, I wouldn’t think Zizic would be able to progress much next year anyhow, so why waste a roster spot on him?
Don’t re-sign Zizic in the upcoming free agency period, Cavs. With him unlikely to play much in meaningful minutes next season and realistically in coming years, it’s not worth re-signing him even on feasibly a low-cost one or two-year-deal, as he’s not a rim protector and often clogs up the paint for pieces such as Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman when he is in with them.