Ivica Zubac painfully illustrates what Warriors trade plans should be

The Golden State Warriors lost yet again in a 102-92 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, succumbing them to their sixth loss in the last seven and 11th place in the NBA's Western Conference standings.

Many of the Warriors recent heartbreaking losses have stemmed from an offensively silent Stephen Curry, or a series of embarrassing mistakes in clutch time. This time it was a sustained and consistent inability to bypass the Clippers' defensive structure, with Ivica Zubac, as he has in many games recently, dominating the paint, stalling the opposing team's offense and taking advantage of mismatches on defense.

His two vital blocks in crunch time, which essentially saved the game for the Clippers, showcased this fact in painful form. While second-year center Trayce Jackson-Davis has been a bright spot for the Warriors over these last few games, the Warriors' inability to cope with Zubac's dominance illustrates their need to trade for a center who can complement their current offensive setup.

The Warriors need a different look at center

The Warriors, in their ever-shifting rotation, have utilized a trio of players at the five-spot this season: Trayce Jackson-Davis, Kevon Looney and Draymond Green.

Green moved temporarily to center in order to accomodate Jonathan Kuminga's short-lived trip to the starting lineup, and seems to have moved back to his more natural power-forward postion for the time being.

Jackson-Davis has been playing his best basketball of the season since his own return to the starting lineup. His 11-point, nine-rebound performance on Christmas Day against the Lakers helped the Warriors take advantage of Anthony Davis' absence to some degree (even though they lost), with the 24-year-old showing an ability to play physically in the paint and get to the basket when necessary while being a more active pick-and-roll partner for the recently acquired Dennis Schröder.

Looney is a solid defensive presence, but he is by no means an offensive threat. He's averaging only five points in 15.9 minutes per game, having also been a five-point per game scorer for his career.

None of these current options possess the tools the Warriors need to cement a starting lineup that has struggled both offensively and defensively throughout the month of December.

Zubac's presence was felt throughout the night in more than just his flashy defensive plays. It often seemed as though the Clippers had successfully clogged the paint, utilizing the length of Zubac and Derrick Jones Jr. While Jackson-Davis was able to cut behind them on multiple occasions for the bucket, there were also multiple times, especially in the first half, where he was stripped or blocked in attempting to make a move under the basket.

Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins noticeably passed up opportunities to drive to the rim, wasting sold setups from Schröder because of Zubac's presence. This led to contested threes on multiple possessions rather than an attempted layup from two of the Warriors usually most aggressive players at the rim.

While the Warriors have already traded for Schröder, they desperately need to continue to browse the trade market for a center in order to open up the offense they envisioned as a result of that acquisition.

The dynamics of the Curry-Schröder backcourt will figure themselves out eventually. However, if there is not a big man on the roster to match up with others at the same position, especially in the Western Conference, the Warriors offense will continue to be stunted in a big way.

While Zubac was not the sole reason for the Clippers win on Friday, his effect on the Warriors offense serves as a reminder of what this team needs to truly compete in a stacked Western Conference.