Senior guard Lazar Stefanovic was needed so much last season that UCLA men’s basketball head coach Mick Cronin joked early that he would ideally never take him off the floor.

The Bruins were otherwise extremely young and in dire need of Stefanovic’s shooting touch. While serviceable, he finished fourth on the team with 11.5 points per game to go with a team-high 6.1 rebounds but shot just 38.5% from the field — including a team-high 38.9% on 3-pointers.

Cronin brought in reinforcements in the backcourt this offseason, including sharpshooting guard Dominick Harris, and it now looks like Stefanovic could be in a fight for minutes after playing 34.6 per game — which trailed only point guard Dylan Andrews.