Cleveland Cavaliers center Ante Zizic is exceeding all expectations.
Over the last 10 games, Zizic is putting up 13.3 points and 8.0 rebounds on 57.6% shooting in 27 minutes. This is with six starts over a span of 10 games. If we look at per 36 minutes he’s putting up 15.5 points and 11.1 rebounds. That’s on the whole season, including games where he only played a few minutes at the end.
Ante is an old-style center. He’s not a good three point shooter (he has never attempted a three-point shot in his NBA career), but he loves his jump hook in the post, which is pretty much a lost art in today’s NBA. We’ve seen the Cavaliers give it to him with his back to the basket, and it’s proven to be reliable offense when he puts up a jump hook over the defender. While he may not be a “modern” center, he’s shown that he can still help out a team, and he’s only 21 years old with plenty of room for development. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’d say Big Z has the potential to be a solid starter or very good bench center. He can rebound, and he’ll continue to develop into a sure two points if he continues to work on that low-post offense.
From Celtics afterthought to Cavaliers starter
Ante Zizic has never been recognized much in his career. He was drafted 23rd overall in the 2016 draft by the Boston Celtics and played his first year overseas. Boston signed him to a contract in the 2017 offseason, but he was quickly traded after signing that deal. He was of course a throw-in, afterthought item in the big Kyrie Irving trade. He was immediately put onto a deep team with hopes of winning a title. Zizic spent time earlier in the year going up-and-down from the Cavaliers to the G-League affiliate Canton Charge.
Zizic dominated with the Charge and got his big opportunity in the second half of the season. Both Tristan Thompson and newly acquired Larry Nance Jr. were out with injuries and the Cavs needed another big man despite moving Kevin Love to center. Zizic got rotation minutes, including one start over a 9-game stretch. Zizic put up a solid stat line of 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in just 14 minutes. But what really impressed the Cavs was his efficiency – 78% from the field during that stretch.
Once again this season Thompson is out and Nance is coming off an injury. So Zizic is getting his opportunity and playing even better. Ante has shown us that there’s still a place in this league for centers like him, and he hopefully has a promising future with Cleveland.
