INDIANA — The Indiana Pacers’ Ivica Zubac trade officially entered a new phase on lottery night, and somehow the basketball gods found yet another creative way to torment Indiana. What was supposed to be a franchise reset through the draft lottery instead became a brutal reminder that luck and the Pacers have spent decades actively avoiding each other. Indiana entered the night tied for the best odds at the No. 1 overall pick. They left it apologizing to fans after landing exactly where they couldn’t afford to land: fifth.
Overpay? Pacers’ Ivica Zubac Trade Finalized After Draft Lottery Gods Continue To Mock Indiana
That result immediately finalized the Pacers’ Ivica Zubac trade details with the pick conveying to the Los Angeles Clippers. Not top four? Pick gone. Simple. Cruel. Almost impressively cruel, honestly. The Pacers had a 52.1% chance to keep their selection entering the night, yet the flattened lottery odds and Indiana’s long-running feud with lottery luck combined once again like a buddy cop movie nobody asked for.
Kevin Pritchard addressed fans shortly after the results with a remarkably candid statement on X. “I’m really sorry to all our fans. I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck.” If nothing else, you can’t accuse the Pacers president of hiding behind corporate PR language. This was essentially a live public acceptance stage of grief.
I'm really sorry to all our fans. I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck. But please remember – this team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year. We have always been resilient.
— Kevin Pritchard (@PacersKev) May 10, 2026
Indiana’s Relationship With The Lottery Remains Absolutely Cursed
The frustrating part for Indiana is this isn’t some isolated incident. The Pacers draft lottery history reads less like a basketball timeline and more like a collection of unfortunate plot twists. Indiana has never selected first overall in franchise history. Even worse, they’ve only moved up once in lottery history, back in 1988, the last time they even had a top-four selection.
What makes this season especially painful is how Indiana even got here. This wasn’t a deliberate tankathon operation involving mysterious “knee soreness” injuries in March. The Pacers rarely tank and are generally viewed as one of the league’s more ethical organizations. Their disastrous 19-63 record, the worst in franchise history, came largely because injuries steamrolled the roster all season long. Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles injury alone changed the entire trajectory of the franchise.
And yet despite all of that suffering, the Pacers draft lottery still somehow found a way to punish Indiana further. The Wizards landed the No. 1 pick while the Clippers now walk away with the fifth overall selection thanks to the Pacers’ Ivica Zubac trade. Los Angeles finished 42-40 and somehow ended up with its highest draft pick since Blake Griffin. Somewhere, a Clippers executive is probably lighting candles for the lottery machine as we speak.
So Was The Zubac Trade Actually An Overpay?
Now comes the uncomfortable debate. Was this actually an overpay?
On paper right now, it certainly feels that way. The finalized trade package now includes the No. 5 pick in next month’s draft, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and Bennedict Mathurin, Indiana’s last real lottery success story after being selected sixth overall in 2022. That is a hefty price to pay even for a player as impactful as Zubac.
Mathurin himself remains a strong young building block. The soon-to-be 24-year-old averaged 17.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists this season while shooting 43% from the field across 54 appearances between Indiana and Los Angeles. Giving up a productive young wing plus premium draft capital is never exactly comfortable unless you’re playing NBA 2K with trade logic turned off.
Still, there’s a reason Indiana made the move. Zubac is one of the NBA’s best defensive centers and had a breakout campaign in the 2024-25 season. He averaged 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds while earning All-Defensive Second Team honors and finishing sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. His 59 double-doubles trailed only Domantas Sabonis league-wide. With Myles Turner gone and Haliburton eventually returning, Indiana clearly viewed Zubac as the perfect long-term pick-and-roll partner and defensive anchor.
So is it an overpay? Right now, probably yes. But trades like this aren’t judged in May of 2026. They’re judged years later when the full consequences finally arrive. If the Clippers eventually turn Indiana’s 2029 unprotected first into another premium lottery selection, this conversation becomes significantly uglier. Until then, opinions on the Pacers’ Ivica Zubac trade are going to bounce back and forth between overpay and justified gamble.
Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
