How the Pacers’ Big Gamble in Ivica Zubac Trade Came Back to Bite Indiana in Draft Lottery

Despite a dreadful season, the Pacers had a great opportunity this year. After a run to the NBA Finals in 2025, Indiana missed Tyrese Haliburton all season after he suffered a torn Achilles in the Game 7 loss to the Thunder.

Without its star player, Indiana was forced to look toward the future and plan for a return to contention in the Eastern Conference once Haliburton could return in 2026–27. A 19–63 record gave the Pacers as good a shot as any team to pick at the top of the draft and add a young star to the roster alongside Haliburton. Due to a chance the franchise took at the trade deadline, though, the ping pong balls had to fall their way in the NBA draft lottery to even keep this year’s coveted pick.

At the February trade deadline, Indiana traded for Clippers star big man Ivica Zubac and sent out a package of Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks and a one second-rounder. The first of the two first-round picks is for the 2026 draft and was protected on picks 1–4 and 10–30. With how bad the Pacers’ season was, the lowest they could pick was sixth, which meant the franchise had to remain in the top four of Sunday’s draft lottery to retain its selection.

Zubac was a great add to pair next to Haliburton starting next season and the former Clipper remains under contract for two more seasons at an affordable salary: $20.3 million next year and $21.8 million in 2027–28. He averaged 16.8 points per game for the Clippers last season and suddenly became available when Los Angeles decided to part with James Harden at the deadline. Myles Turner was a big part of Indiana’s Finals run last year, but he departed over the offseason to sign with the Bucks as a free agent.

Indiana had a hole in the frontcourt—although Jay Huff was one of the league’s best shot blockers this year—which it needed to address for next season. The Pacers took a massive risk to fill that need and it turned out to bite them once the lottery results were revealed on Wednesday.

The Pacers took a calculated gamble that backfired

At the time, the Pacers’ deal for Zubac made a ton of sense. They had to give up a lot to bring him in, but one of the league’s premier big men doesn’t become available too often. You have to give up something to get something, but two first-round picks is a lot, especially when this year’s Pacers pick had ample value.

With the deal, the Pacers essentially had a coin flip to keep their pick this year. If the pick didn’t convey this year, it would have turned into a 2031 first-rounder. The teams that finish with the worst three records each have a 52.1% chance to receive a top-four pick, which are determined by the lottery. Indiana finished with the second-worst record in the NBA, which meant the pick could fall as low as No. 6 and a 47.9% chance it would end up outside of the top four.

The ping pong balls weren’t on Indiana’s side as the pick landed at No. 5 and went to the Clippers. A missed opportunity to add another strong piece to a team that should be right back in the mix for a championship next season. Here’s a look at the odds for the pick entering Sunday’s lottery per Tankathon:

Once deputy commissioner Mark Tatum opened the envelope for the fifth pick and it showed the Clippers’ logo, the house took all of Indiana’s chips.

Why did the Pacers risk their first-round pick in a such a big way?

From the outside looking in, it appeared that the Pacers took drastic measures to address their need down low after Turner’s departure. Once the ping pong balls fell and this year’s pick was sent to the Clippers, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard confirmed that was the case.

“We’re all disappointed,” Pritchard said via the Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak, “I think the message is that last year in the draft we had a pick, we pushed in this year and we felt like all during this year we really needed a center. And structurally when you look at our team, that hole is something we needed to fill pretty badly.”

Pritchard said that the Clippers didn’t allow him to protect the pick further out. Still, the lottery results were a crushing blow. So much so that he posted an apologetic message to the fan base after the lottery as he knew the result crushed a lot more than his front office.

Haliburton shared the same sentiment as the team’s fans. Pacers guard T.J. McConnell represented the franchise at the lottery and Haliburton posted a hype video for his teammate ahead of the drama. Once results were revealed, Haliburton posted a hilarious meme of Lil Uzi Vert to declare he lost.

The Pacers’ loss is a big win for the Clippers, who now get a top-five pick in exchange for Zubac while they brought in Mathurin and former Cavaliers All-Star guard Darius Garland at the trade deadline.

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