Kawhi Leonard never suited up for the Pacers, but his fingerprints are all over the roster Indiana has built years later.
That’s the strange thread running through a pair of franchise-changing moves. Leonard was selected by Indiana with the No. 15 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, then traded to San Antonio as part of the deal that brought George Hill to the Pacers.
He never played a second for Indiana. Still, nearly 15 years later, Leonard somehow helped the Pacers land two of the three players in their current starting frontcourt.
The first twist came in the summer of 2019. Leonard had just delivered Toronto its first and only NBA championship, but he didn’t stay to keep that group together. Instead of running it back with Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, he left for the Los Angeles Clippers.
That departure changed everything for Toronto. The Raptors’ championship core slowly broke apart, and less than five years later Indiana stepped in and acquired Siakam on Jan.
17, 2024. It turned into one of the most important trades in Pacers history.
Siakam has become exactly what Indiana needed: an All-Star caliber player, champion, leader and steadying presence for a young team. The Pacers don’t make their incredible postseason runs without him, and they certainly don’t get close to an NBA championship without Siakam playing such a significant role.
Then came another Leonard-linked opening. After Myles Turner left in free agency in 2025, Indiana was again looking for a long-term answer at center.
By September 2026, Pablo Torre’s reporting on Leonard, the Clippers and Aspiration had brought allegations of salary-cap circumvention into the spotlight. The fallout pushed Los Angeles in a new direction and led to two huge trades before the deadline.
James Harden was sent to Cleveland in a deal involving Darius Garland, while Indiana landed Zubac and Kobe Brown by sending Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks and a second-round pick to Los Angeles.
Once more, Leonard’s situation had an indirect effect on the Pacers.
If the Clippers never unraveled, maybe Los Angeles keeps building around Leonard and Zubac never hits the market. Instead, Indiana got a center who fits neatly next to Tyrese Haliburton and Siakam, while also making sense for the team financially.
Zubac gives the Pacers an upgrade in the middle, bringing elite rebounding, interior presence and proven size without shutting the door on roster flexibility.
So the whole thing lands in a pretty wild place: a player Indiana drafted and traded away in 2011 ended up helping shape the Pacers’ current frontcourt almost 15 years later.
Siakam and Zubac now make up two-thirds of Indiana’s starting frontcourt. And Leonard, without ever playing for the Pacers, somehow helped make that possible.
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Pacers Could Be Tempted By A Former First Round Wing Gamble
AJ Johnsons path through the NBA has already become a case study in how quickly a young player can get shuffled when teams are chasing immediate help. Drafted by the Bucks and then sent to Washington, he flashed enough promise with the Wizards to keep intrigue alive, but he eventually slipped out of the rotation and kept moving, landing with Dallas, Memphis and New Orleans in rapid succession.
For the Pacers, that kind of talent-for-price profile can be hard to ignore, especially if they are looking for a low-cost swing on the wing. Johnson still has the kind of long-term upside that made him a first-round gamble in the first place, but any Indiana pursuit would come with the same central question that has followed him from stop to stop: can a team finally give him a consistent role long enough to unlock it? [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Face A Veteran Leadership Debate At The Worst Time
The Pacers went into the offseason looking for steadiness as much as talent, and Larry Nance Jr. fit that idea on paper. Indiana valued his veteran presence even though his on-court role has been limited, a sign the front office was trying to add some ballast to a roster that has had to absorb injuries and turnover. In that sense, the move made sense as part of a bigger effort to keep the group grounded.
Still, the conversation around leadership in Indiana has not gone away, especially with James Johnson still unsigned. Johnson was a former Pacers voice the room clearly understood, and the contrast has sharpened the debate over whether the team prioritized the right kind of veteran presence at the right time. With so much already changing around the roster, the Pacers are left sorting out not just who can play, but who can help hold everything together. [Read more 🡒]
Johnny Furphy Could Force His Way Into Indianas Bench Plans
Johnny Furphy arrived in the league with the sort of draft profile that usually calls for patience, but the Pacers may not have the luxury to wait long if he keeps trending the right way. A second-round pick with 85 career games already on his rsum, Furphy has also had to work back from an ACL injury, yet his appeal in Indiana goes beyond simple development. The Pacers have spent plenty of time looking for the right kind of depth, and Furphys defense gives him a path to matter sooner rather than later.
What makes his case more interesting is how neatly he could fit into the kind of small-ball groups Indiana likes to explore with Pascal Siakam. Furphy does not need to be a high-usage player to help, and that matters on a roster where bench roles can shift quickly depending on matchup and health. If his defensive tools hold up, he could push his way into the conversation as more than just another young wing on the fringe of the rotation. [Read more 🡒]