Pacers All-Star break practice updates: Fines, injuries, and Zubac

INDIANAPOLIS – The All-Star break gave the Pacers some much-needed time away. T.J. McConnell clearly got a lot of sun – he's somewhere between tan and burnt at the moment.

In total, the Pacers had over four days between their most recent game and their first practice during the All-Star break. Head coach Rick Carlisle encouraged the team to "Use the time wisely, enjoy their families, get to warm weather if they can." That message was received.

Now, though, the Pacers are back in action and preparing for their final 27 games of 2025-26. They practiced twice this week, then take on the Washington Wizards twice in as many days on Thursday and Friday.

"It's important that everybody gets reactivated, very well stretched out, loosened up. Get into it gradually, and then you've got to work back to NBA conditioning," Carlisle said of the post All-Star practices. The team got back up to speed while also getting some tune-up reps with Kobe Brown and Ivica Zubac (limited) for the first time.

What happened at practice this week? Here's the dispatch.

Pacers respond to the NBA's fine

Last week, the Pacers were fined for violating the NBA's Player Participation Policy.

The NBA alleged that during Pacers vs Jazz on February 3, Pascal Siakam and two other Pacers starters missed the game despite being medically eligible to play under the Policy. An independent physician made that determination.

"Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games," said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in the press release announcing the fine. "Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct."

What matters before providing context: The Pacers did violate the Player Participation Policy if Siakam was deemed healthy enough to play. He rested that game against Utah, a back-to-back. But if the league felt as if that was an atypical absence, they were within the posted guidelines of the Player Participation Policy to investigate the Pacers.

I asked Rick Carlisle for his interpretation of why the Pacers were fined. "I have no idea, and really no comment on it," he said. The very next question Carlisle fielded was about if the team would change the way they handle back-to-backs the rest of the season. "We're going to manage our situation the way we need to do it," he said.

Later, Carlisle sent further clarifying thoughts to myself and the Indianapolis Star. "I'm so proud of the way that our players, organization and fans have approached an extraordinarily challenging season. We have been very consistent with how we have approached everything this year and the NBA is aware of that," he said. "Communication with the league office has been productive. We will move forward with the same emphasis on competitiveness and development that I talked about on media day September 29th 2025."

And that's that. This story has dragged on because of the timing of the fine, which was announced the day after the Pacers played their final game before the All-Star break. That gave the NBA, and Silver, a chance to comment on it during a press conference at All-Star weekend. The Commissioner said of the fines and his statement that he "very intentionally wanted teams to be on notice."

I understand the league's stance and understand that the Pacers did, per the document, violate the Player Participation Policy. What strikes me as odd: Why did this game lead to fines when the Pacers have done this exact thing earlier this season? They rested players during back-to-backs in Detroit and Golden State prior to the game against Utah, for example.

"It’s a back-to-back. It's something that has been staring at us on the calendar for a while," Carlisle said of the reasoning for resting players against the Pistons in January.

Clearly, there is strategy to this for the Pacers in a tough season. They get next to nothing out of putting high mileage on their players this year and just lost Johnny Furphy to a season-ending torn ACL. Being mindful of player minutes is something any 15-40 team would do.

What also struck me as odd: The press release announcing the fine states that "Two other Pacers starters, neither of whom participated in the game, could have played under the medical standard in the Policy." I do not understand why this is included or relevant. Siakam is the only healthy player on the Pacers roster that falls under the NBA's criteria for a star player, and those are the only players subject to the Player Participation Policy. Two non-stars being mentioned in the announcement of the fine was perplexing.

The Pacers have four more back-to-backs this season. Who they rest in those games, if anyone, will be worth keeping an eye on.

Injury updates, specific and general

For brief moments, Ivica Zubac and Obi Toppin could be seen in the practice facility with uniforms on. GM Chad Buchanan did tell me that the plan is for those two to play at some point this season.

Carlisle was asked about their practice participation and possible return after a few days off.

"Some stuff," he said of Toppin and Zibac's involvement in the practices. "They're both making steady but gradual progress. And it's going to be a while."

Both players are listed as out on the injury report for Pacers-Wizards on Thursday. I asked Carlisle on Wednesday if there were any other injury updates, and he said to wait until the injury report comes out. Well, it did, and it's a long one:

Pascal Siakam: Out (personal reasons)

Tyrese Haliburton: Out (achilles)

Johnny Furphy: Out (ACL)

Obi Toppin: Out (foot)

Ivica Zubac: Out (ankle)

Ethan Thompson: Probable (two-way)

Taelon Peter: Probable (two-way)

Quenton Jackson: Questionable (two-way)

T.J. McConnell: Questionable (hamstring)

Aaron Nesmith: Questionable (back)

Micah Potter: Questionable (ankle)

That's 11 of the Pacers 17 players listed, and for the first night of a back-to-back.

Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown with early impressions

While not a full participant, Zubac was able to practice with his new teammates and get up to some level of speed. He's meeting everybody both on and off the court.

Kobe Brown described Zubac to me as a funny guy. I asked Ben Sheppard if that's been true so far. "I think so. He cracked a couple of jokes to me on the bench. I can't wait until he's out there," he said.

When he is on the court, Zubac's performance will answer the questions about how he will fit with the Pacers. High level – the screen setting, rebounding, and defense are hand-in-glove fits.

But the spacing and speed elements of the Pacers style may need some time to mesh with what Zubac's strengths are. Carlisle provided a long answer when asked about what will be expected of the big man.

"He just brings a new element to our franchise. [He] brings size and power and finishing around the basket. It's unlikely that we're going to see cross-matching with him. [Opponents] are going to keep the five on him. With Myles [Turner] and Pascal sometimes, a lot of times teams put a smaller guy on Myles to switch and a bigger guy on Pascal to try to make it hard for him to score. If teams put a smaller guy on Zubac, good luck. He's going to massacre people around the basket. He's just that good," Carlisle said. "The element that he brings, we have to get our players up to speed on some of the opportunities that are going to be there. And so it's an adjustment for him, but it's also an adjustment for our guys that we have to calibrate... it's the speed of the game. The Clippers played more of a medium-tempo game. Their style is just different. Their personnel's different. Our style is what it is... A lot of Zubac's opportunities are going to come off of movement, but we have to get everybody up to speed on what those opportunities look like and raise the level of awareness."

Like with any trade, not only does an acquired player have to adjust their game to what their new team does, but the opposite is true as well. As Carlisle laid out, Pacers players will have to figure out how Zubac can help them and adjust their approach accordingly. These practices are helpful for that just as much as they are about getting the veteran big man up to speed.

Zubac played a few possessions of live scrimmaging with Andrew Nembhard this week. "I think it's going to be something you have to feel out for the time coming," Nembhard said of Zubac. "I think his screening is going to be a big thing. Just give us a lot of space, us guards coming off."

Nembhard has played with a big, interior screening big before in Drew Timme while at Gonzaga, but the Pacers point guard notices many differences between the two centers. Zubac is bigger and stronger. "It's going to be exciting," he said.

Brown, meanwhile, had already played in games and left some impression. But he got up to speed with the Pacers terminology this week with some post-trade practice time. "Both these guys are very smart players and pick up things very quickly," Carisle said of Brown and Zubac.

Thank you for reading. I will be in DC to cover the Pacers next two games against the Wizards. Subscribe to not miss any coverage.