The Indiana Pacers made the move they had to make in order to make another run to the NBA Finals possible next season. They found a high quality center in Ivica Zubac. While the cost and risk is high, their new center offers a ton of upside and fills their most glaring hole after losing their former center Myles Turner in free agency last summer.
While the cost (a 2029 unprotected first-round pick, two homegrown picks in Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson, and either pick 5-9 in the draft this year if the lottery gods don’t bless the Pacers or a 2031 unprotected first-round pick if they do) of the acquisition is high, the cost in terms of salary for Ivica Zubac is relatively low. Much cheaper over the next two seasons than Turner’s deal with the Bucks and Zubac is a better overall player than brings many skills the team has been lacking at the center position for years.
The Pacers have had elite rebounding bigs like Domas Sabonis, they’ve had elite rim protectors like Myles Turner and Roy Hibbert, but it’s been a long time since they’ve had both. That’s what Zubac, an All-Defense second team selection in 2025, provides for Indiana, in addition to being the best post defender they’ve had at this position in a long time as well. Zubac’s rebounding percentages on both ends of the floor are top-10 in the league, his defensive field goal percentage allowed within 6-feet of the basket is on par with premier rim defenders like Rudy Gobert.
Watch Kyle Taylor and I talk every angle of the trade on our emergency podcast from last night.
While he doesn’t bring any outside shooting to the table (12 attempted threes in his entire career), Zubac’s screening will be a whole new kind of toy for Tyrese Haliburton to play with. Zubac may not add gravity with shooting himself but his roll gravity forces opponents to help as he dives to the rim which will open up looks for the Pacers shooters and passing avenues for their gifted point guard. Pascal Siakam has thrived in plenty of offensive situations while playing with bigs in the dunker spot instead of a spacing big and Zubac will be an elite finishing option inside having made over 60% of his shots for each of the last six seasons.
While there may be nights where Zubac brand of defense that thrives in drop coverage isn’t as effective, his contract being lower in value means the Pacers can afford to have other options available like playing small with Obi Toppin at the 5. The coaching staff has always been elite at pushing the right buttons as needed, Zubac gives them a new one to play with while they still can go small or play a stretch big like Huff.
While there’s plenty of risk in the deal made by Kevin Pritchard, there’s plenty of reason for hope that this vaults the Pacers right back into contention next season even if the Pacers don’t get lucky on lottery night. And that’s what this is all about. The Pacers had a chance to win an NBA title last year come up just short, an injury at the worst possible moment away from a championship, and this move gives them an opportunity to get back there and finish the job.
It’s difficult to come up with a similar trade in Pacers history even with the team having a lot of success with trades. Historically the team has been great at snatching away young talent and having them blossom with a change of scenery and opportunity (Haliburton, Sabonis, Oladipo, Jalen Rose, Jermaine O’Neal, even role players like Aaron Nesmith and George Hill can fit into this category). They’ve acquired veteran help at the right time like Mark Jackson. They’ve made a blockbuster deal that significantly upgraded the ceiling of the roster like with Pascal Siakam but this trade with far off future draft capital is unmatched. While the Siakam trade opened a contention window, the Zubac trade feels like the attempt to acquire the final puzzle piece needed like the Thunder signing Hartenstein and trading for Caruso recently.
Ironically, the Pacers actually used their 2026 pick to help acquire both Siakam and Zubac. Shout-out to the Pelicans for trading it back to the Pacers for their 2025 first during the NBA Finals. The only similar option in far off future capital like the 2029 unprotected pick is the trade for Tom Owens, a journeyman center, who only played one year for the team and that future first turned into the second pick in the 1984 draft where the Blazers passed on Michael Jordan. Will the draft capital and Bennedict Mathurin end up reminding Pacers historians of of that or for trading for a rapidly aging George McGinnis where they gave up future Hall of Famer Alex English? I doubt it, even if Mathurin finds stardom in a better fitting new home with the Clippers or LA hits big on a pick 5-9 this year. Those early NBA days for the Pacers were dark times and the front office of Pritchard, Chad Buchanan, and Ted Wu deserve the benefit of the doubt with how they’ve built this roster since bringing in Rick Carlisle to coach a team that they quickly decided needed to be blown up.
The rest of this season might get ugly with the Pacers having every reason to want to lose as much as possible to keep their chances at 52% of keeping it in the top 4. If they drop to the sixth worst record in the league that would cause their chances of keeping the pick to 37%, for example. Time to give Zubac a nice long paternity leave to enjoy that brand new baby, give Pascal Siakam a good rest of his back from carrying the team so much he made the All Star team despite the Pacers record, you get the idea.
Get your popcorn ready for May 10th and then the Pacers will be off to the races next fall.
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