NBA: Ranking all 30 starting centers for 2019-20

Young Ivica Zubac got his chance to be a full-time NBA starter after being acquired by the LA Clippers from the Los Angeles Lakers at the trade deadline last February and did well with the opportunity for the most part.

But with the pressure ramped up in LA after the Clippers added superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George this summer, there are questions about how well Zubac can fare as the starting center for a title contender.

While Sixth Man of the Year finalist Montrezl Harrell will likely get the majority of the minutes at the 5, the plan still calls for him to come off the bench in place of Zubac, with Harrell providing a small-ball 5 change-of-pace to the 7-foot-1 Croatian.

Zubac started 25 of the 26 games in which he appeared after the trade and averaged 9.4 points and 7.7 rebounds in 20.2 minutes per game, shooting 53.8 percent from the floor.

He is a 76.1 percent career shooter from the free throw line, so his stroke is decent, but he hasn’t extended his range much in the NBA. He didn’t attempt a 3 last season and is 0-for-4 in his career.

Instead, he’s a classic center, with 66.1 percent of his attempts as a Clipper coming in the restricted area and all put 5.9 percent of his shots coming inside of 10 feet.

LA played 1.3 points better per 100 possessions with Zubac on the floor, so that’s encouraging, but — as they showed a series later against Clint Capela of the Houston Rockets — Zubac can be rendered unplayable against a pace-and-space opponent like the Golden State Warriors.

After Golden State’s 27-point blowout victory in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Clippers, Zubac was a DNP-Coach’s Decision for both Games 4 and 5 and played just a two-minute cameo in the finale in Game 6.

That was despite going for 18 points and 15 rebounds in 17 minutes of Game 3. The problem was that defensively, the Warriors were abusing Zubac on switches, getting basically whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it.

With Harrell struggling to defend size at the 5 and Zubac being limited against speed and spacing, the Clippers could find themselves in some defensive trouble against 5s all year long.