The Indiana Pacers’ decision to swing big for Ivica Zubac is aging nicely.
When Indiana went into last year’s trade deadline, the need was obvious: the roster had no long-term answer at center. Myles Turner had already walked in free agency to the rival Milwaukee Bucks, and Kevin Pritchard along with the front office had to find a real anchor if the Pacers wanted to stay in the mix as a legitimate NBA Finals contender.
Jay Huff and Isaiah Jackson weren’t solving the problem. So Pritchard and general manager Chad Buchanan went bold, landing Zubac from the Los Angeles Clippers in a blockbuster deal.
The price was steep. Indiana sent Bennedict Mathurin, Jackson, a 2026 first-round pick that was top-four protected, a 2029 unprotected first-round pick, and a 2028 second-round pick via Dallas to get Zubac and young wing Kobe Brown.
Pritchard took a gamble with that 2026 pick, and the ping pong balls didn’t break Indiana’s way. The selection conveyed to the Clippers.
Even so, the trade has only looked better since then. Mathurin lasted just half a season in Los Angeles before leaving this offseason for the New Orleans Pelicans on a two-year, $16 million deal.
Jackson is still with the Clippers, and the No. 5 pick turned into Keaton Wagler. What Wagler becomes is still unknown, but another development has made the deal even sweeter for Indiana.
Because of the Kawhi Leonard investigation, Los Angeles has now been stripped of the Pacers’ 2029 first-round pick. That means it won’t come back to Indiana, but it also means the Clippers won’t get another young player out of the Zubac trade.
What Indiana has instead is the kind of center it has been hunting for. Zubac gives the Pacers a star big man to pair with Tyrese Haliburton, and the early returns have been strong.
Zubac is coming off the 2025-26 NBA season, when he played in 48 games and posted 14.1 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 59.8 percent from the field.
In the 2024-25 season, he was even better, averaging 16.8 points, 12.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 blocks while shooting 62.8 percent from the floor.
For a team that has dealt with rebounding problems for years, Zubac brings exactly what Indiana needed. He cleans the glass, gives the Pacers a real interior scoring threat and has quickly made the blockbuster trade look like a win.
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