Los Angeles Lakers Rumors: Ivica Zubac Headed To D-League

The Los Angeles Lakers second round draft pick Ivica Zubac is headed down to the D-League to get some much needed playing time.

The Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers D-League affiliate, announced the Lakers have assigned the seven-foot-one center to the team earlier today. Zubac is expected to play against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets affiliate) on Thursday.

OFFICIAL: The @Lakers have assigned Ivica Zubac to the D-Fenders. He is expected to participate in tomorrow's game vs. Rio Grande Valley. pic.twitter.com/RPtvnRbDIe

— South Bay Lakers (@SouthBayLakers) November 16, 2016

This is likely the first of many trips to the D-League for the 19-year-old Bosnian, who was not expected to make much of impact with the Lakers this season anyways. Zubac has only appeared in three games and was inactive for the Lakers 125-118 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. He is currently averaging 2.3 points along with 1.7 rebounds in just over nine minutes a contest.

Zubac is very talented but very raw. He demonstrated his potential in his lone start of the season against Dwight Howard and the Atlanta Hawks, posting six points — on 3-of-3 shooting — and three rebounds along with one steal in 19 minutes of action. He finished the game with a +10 plus/minus rating though he picked up four fouls.

Los Angeles (7-5) is in the midst of a four-game homestand. The Lakers are off until Friday when they host the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers will host the Chicago Bulls on November 20 and then the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 22.

Zubac joins Lakers’ affiliate players Julian Jacobs and Travis Wear on the D-Fenders roster. He is the 18th player ever to be assigned by the Lakers to the D-Fenders. The D-Fenders have been affiliated with the Lakers since the inception of the club in 2006.

The D-Fenders (2-0) have defeated the Iowa Energy (Memphis Grizzlies) and Santa Cruz Warriors (Golden State). Vander Blue (23.0 ppg) and forward Justin Harper (22.5) lead seven players in double figures. Harper (10 rpg) and Wear (9.0) are the team’s top rebounders.

In other D-League news

According to J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic, the Washington Wizards are sending rookie Danuel House to the Delaware 87ers as the Wiz do not have a direct affiliate in the D-League. The six-foot-seven rookie forward has seen the court for one minute in one game. He has been inactive for six contests and received a DNP-coaches decision in two others. House will reportedly spend four or five days with the 87ers.

The Boston Celtics announced via Twitter that they have recalled rookie point guard Demetrius Jackson from Maine Red Claws. The 22-year-old appeared in three games for the Red Claws, averaging 22.3 points in 36.7 minutes per game while shooting a solid 53.5 percent from the field. He also averaged 5.7 boards, 7.0 assists, and 2.3 steals. Jackson was sent down to the Red Claws on November 10 to get some playing time as he had seen just 15 minutes of action in two games with the Celtics.

Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript reports that the Oklahoma City Thunder have recalled Josh Huestis from the Oklahoma City Blue. The No. 29 overall pick in the 2014 draft struggled shooting the ball in his two games this year for the Blue (2-1). Huestis is coming off a 10-point, three-rebound and four blocked shot performance against the Salt Lake City Stars (Utah Jazz) on Tuesday. The 24-year-old forward was just 3-for-11 from the field, including 0-for-4 from beyond the arc, against the Stars. He averaged 9.0 points, on 26.0 percent shooting, along with 6.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in the two contests.

The Thunder designated Huestis for assignment following the team’s acquisition of forward Jerami Grant from the Philadelphia 76ers. Huestis has not appeared in a game for OKC this season and has only played in five NBA games for his career.

The Philadelphia 76ers have recalled guards Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Jerryd Bayless from the 87ers per Derek Bodner of PhillyMag.

The Westchester Knicks signed forward Doron Lamb to a returning player contract today. The six-foot-four guard most recently played for Nanterre 92 in France’s top league. Lamb appeared in 14 games for Westchester in 2015 after being acquired from the Texas Legends in a trade on February 19, 2015. In a corresponding move, Westchester released guard Max Hooper. Hooper, the team’s first-round pick of the 2016 NBA D-League Draft, played a total of eight minutes in one game for Westchester.

Update: Lamb scored 11 points, on 5-of-10 shooting, grabbed four rebounds and doled out three assists in his debut against the Greensboro Storm on Wednesday night. Westchester (1-1) earned its first victory of the season with a 117-112 win over the Storm, an affiliate of the Charlotte Hornets. Rookie Marshall Plumlee, on assignment from the New York Knicks, racked up a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

[Featured Image by Harry How/Getty Images]