Pacers’ Ivica Zubac commerce 1st-round decide backfired for Indiana, helped Clippers initially appeared on The Sporting Information. Add The Sporting Information as a Most well-liked Supply by clicking right here.
The Indiana Pacers had a bizarre 2025-26 season, however they have been clearly pondering towards subsequent yr with all their strikes. They knew they would not have celebrity level guard Tyrese Haliburton, and they also principally had a one-year retool to undertake.
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They confirmed that after they traded for Ivica Zubac in the midst of the season however then shut him down shortly. They need Zubac to be Haliburton’s buddy within the pick-and-roll subsequent season.
In addition they would’ve liked to have a high-ranking draft decide within the 2026 NBA Draft, which is loaded on the prime.
They tried to be sure that occurred as a part of the Zubac commerce, which included a top-four protected 2026 first-round decide going again to the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Prime-four protected implies that so long as the Pacers have been selecting 1, 2, 3 or 4, they’d have that decide this season.
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As one of many bottom-three groups within the league, the Pacers could not drop beneath the fifth spot. They have been protected in all however one situation.
That situation occurred.
The decide ended up within the No. 5 spot within the lottery, so the Pacers do not hold it.
The Clippers will decide within the fifth spot, an enormous break for them.
Indiana can nonetheless have a high quality staff subsequent season, nevertheless it will not embody a participant like AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson or Caleb Wilson.
It is a actually unfortunate break for the Pacers, who in any other case appeared to handle their retool yr properly. They only did not have any lottery luck.
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