The Indiana Pacers may have stumbled into a cleaner path for the next phase of their roster build, and it comes from a rule change that could make a down year much more useful than the one they just lived through.
That matters because the Ivica Zubac trade, as the source makes clear, came with a real cost: Indiana gave up its first-round pick. The move itself is described as a major success with no obvious downsides, but it also meant the Pacers did not bring in a young player during a gap year that otherwise could have added a cheap building block.
Zubac is slated to make about 20 million a year over the next two seasons before, as the source puts it, he will surely demand a raise. By contrast, Keaton Wagler, the fifth overall pick the LA Clippers selected with Indiana’s pick, will earn roughly half that annually on his four-year rookie deal.
Even so, the Pacers may now have a different kind of upside available if they slip back a bit. They own their own pick outright in three of the next four years, and the updated lottery system gives them a chance to land a top selection without having to fully bottom out. In other words, Indiana could get the reward of a bad season without asking fans and players to relive another 19-win grind.
That shift is what makes the lottery changes so important for this roster. The old setup mostly forced bad teams to sink further just to have a real shot at elite talent. The source frames the new system as something far less elegant, but far more helpful for Indiana: a lottery environment that can still hand a team a major talent infusion even if it remains competitive enough to reach the playoffs.
For the Pacers, that’s a big deal because their previous route to cost-controlled star-level talent came through trades, not the draft. Indiana landed Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin and Tyrese Haliburton while they were still on rookie deals, and all three arrived via deal rather than as Pacers draft picks. Those moves paid off, but the article argues that trade hunting is no longer the franchise’s main road to greatness.
There’s also a warning embedded in all of this. Indiana has had chances to draft difference-makers, but both of its top-10 picks during the Tyrese Haliburton-centered rebuild have not worked out and left the roster thin.
With a cap crunch coming, the franchise will have to choose whether it is leaning into youth or staying aggressive. If it chooses youth, it won’t need to blow the whole thing up the way it did for this past year.
The setup is simpler than it sounds: hold the pick, keep the flexibility, and hope the lottery finally breaks Indiana’s way.
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Pacers Face A Painful Andrew Nembhard Decision This Summer
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Multiple extensions are coming due, and the choices the front office makes on one player could ripple into the next decision. Indiana also has to weigh the cost of keeping its core intact against the need to preserve flexibility, which is why a player as useful as Nembhard is suddenly part of a much bigger conversation than just on-court fit. Even with his importance clear, the Pacers may not be able to keep every piece they want. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Rookie Braden Smith Just Made His NBA Future Clear
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Now Smith has made his direction clear. Even with an injunction opening the door to a fifth year of eligibility for the Class of 2022, he is leaning fully into his NBA future and keeping his attention on earning his place in Indiana. For the Pacers, that removes one lingering question about a young guard whose passing ability has long been his calling card, and it lets the team move forward with a better sense of where his focus is headed. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Took A Chance On Braden Smith As A Bigger Question Looms
A recent court ruling is changing the college basketball landscape again, extending eligibility from four years to five and opening another lane for players who want to stay in school longer. Braden Smith, who led the NCAA in assists, decided not to take that route. Instead, he chose to move on to a professional career with the Pacers, a decision that says plenty about how Indianapolis is weighing talent in a moment when the rules around player development keep shifting.
For the Pacers, Smith is part of a larger question about what the next draft classes might look like if more players decide to cash in on an extra college season. The evolving system could alter when elite guards enter the NBA, and it may change which prospects are available when teams like Indiana are on the clock. Smith made his choice. The bigger uncertainty is how many others will follow the same path, and what that means for the leagues talent pool. [Read more 🡒]