The Los Angeles Lakers host the LA Clippers on Monday in the battle for Staples Center, which means big man Ivica Zubac gets to take on his former teammates for the first time since the Purple and Gold traded him to their co-tenants.

Zubac played 33 games for the Lakers this season and was pretty productive. He put up 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 58.0 percent from the field.

The 21-year-old was kind of shocked when the Lakers traded him to the Clippers on Feb. 7. The youngster says he watches almost every Lakers game and always thinks to himself he could have helped the team if they didn't trade him.

“I’ve been watching almost every game,” Ivica Zubac told Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register. “I feel like every time I watch them, I’m like, ‘If I was there, I would help them. I would definitely make a difference on the floor,’ you know? But they’re not my team anymore.”

The Lakers are fighting for their playoff lives right now. They are 30-33 on the season, 10th place in the Western Conference standings and four and a half games back of the San Antonio Spurs for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Ivica Zubac and the Clippers are in the seventh spot.