The center market has spent this offseason making one thing painfully clear: Indiana got Ivica Zubac at the right time.
Around the league, teams chasing size have paid through the nose. The Los Angeles Lakers sent out two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps for Walker Kessler, then turned around and signed him to a four year/nearly 140 million deal.
The Boston Celtics also spent a decent sum on Mitchell Robinson. And the Chicago Bulls landed Nic Claxton for cap space.
That kind of spending says plenty. For years, center value has been treated like a bargain-bin problem, something teams could patch together without emptying the cupboard. This offseason has pushed back hard on that idea.
If the Indiana Pacers had waited to make their Ivica Zubac move, they almost certainly would have been staring at the same ugly marketplace everyone else is dealing with now. The options were thin then, and they look even worse now.
Right now, the only real center option still sitting on the open market is restricted free agent Jalen Duren, who likely wants as much or more than Kessler even after he flamed out in the playoffs. Detroit, for its part, is expected not to let Duren walk and is simply waiting for his asking price to come down.
That matters because the Pacers’ Zubac deal looks better by the day when stacked against what other teams had to give up. Robinson may be the strongest value of the bunch, and that’s because he’s probably the best offensive rebounder in the league and fits a Celtics team built around winning the possession battle. Claxton is more of a cap-space flyer, and while his deal could end up negative value and he has struggled badly in past years, it doesn’t carry the same sting as some of the other moves.
The Kessler trade is the one that really sharpens the picture. The Lakers paid more pick equity in volume than Indiana did for Zubac, and they backed it up with a contract that makes little sense. Compared with that, the Pacers’ cost - Keaton Wagler, a future first, and a whole lot of nothing - looks pretty straightforward.
There’s another layer here too. The Boston Celtics had interest in Zubac at last year’s trade deadline but didn’t have the draft capital to get it done. By the time Indiana stepped in with its top-four protected pick, the Pacers had already won that race.
And if they had waited? Boston later moved off MVP finisher Jaylen Brown for two first-round picks, including the Clippers’ own 2028 pick, and those assets likely would have been redirected toward Zubac. Indiana almost certainly would have had to part with more first-rounders than the two it sent out.
That’s the real lesson of this offseason. The Pacers didn’t just make a good trade for Zubac. They made it at exactly the right moment.
In Other News...
Pacers Suddenly Have A Real Case For East's Top Seed
The Pacers are heading into the next season with a roster that suddenly looks deeper and more complete than the one that pushed them back into the playoff conversation. Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac give Indiana a strong core, and the offseason additions of Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. only add to the sense that this group is built to be taken seriously in the East.
Zubacs arrival still looms as one of the most important swing moves in Indianas recent roster construction, especially after the club paid a hefty price in future first-round draft picks with protections to land him. If the Pacers do make a run at the conferences top seed, it will be because they balanced that aggressive move with enough health and depth to stay in the race long enough for the standings to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Urged To Protect Their Core Before Free Agency Gets Messy
The Pacers have already made one smart move by locking in Aaron Nesmith on a two-year extension worth $40.5 million, a deal that looks friendly next to similar contracts around the league. For a team trying to keep its young core intact, that kind of value matters, especially with a roster that still has several important pieces moving toward future contract decisions.
Indiana is now staring at a stretch where it will have to sort through extension and free agency questions on players like Jarace Walker, Ben Sheppard, Pascal Siakam, Ivica Zubac, Andrew Nembhard and Obi Toppin. The appeal of getting ahead of those talks is obvious: early deals can preserve cap flexibility and reduce the risk of watching key contributors get swept into a messy free agency market later on. [Read more 🡒]