Pacers make decisive push with Ivica Zubac trade, solidify rotation

INDIANAPOLIS – Ivica Zubac is a Pacer. The Pacers, less than two hours before Thursday's trade deadline, struck an agreement with the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire the talented center in exchange for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson and draft capital.

The Pacers are sending away significant draft assets, and there is another player in the trade. A deal like that doesn't come together in a rush. The Pacers canvassed the league for center targets, and trade talks involving Zubac had been ongoing leading up to the trade deadline, league sources said. They were ultimately able to get something done with LA.

"Zubac is a guy that is a tremendous center. He's a top-10 center in the NBA. We have a great need [at the position]," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of the trade on Thursday.

The Pacers were described as "very in" on the Croatian big man. His physicality will fit the Pacers style, one that guided them to Game 7 of the NBA Finals in the most recent postseason, very well. Zubac uses his physical gifts to dominate the boards and be a deterrent on defense. He finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2024-25 and was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East

In that season, Zubac led the NBA in total rebounds on both ends of the court. That's a skill the Pacers have been lacking on the interior for years, and they will immediately get a lift in that department. "One of the most prominent physical centers in the league," Carlisle said of Zubac and how he will help Indiana before praising his fit with Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. "It's physicality and skill and rebounding and offensive rebounding. And so this will help our rebounding."

Zubac has, at one point or another in his career, led the league in games played, offensive rebound rate, and true shooting percentage across a full season. While his most recent campaign was certainly his best, he's been growing and impactful throughout his career.

That's why he's the headline of the trade. But he isn't the only piece. Kobe Brown, the last pick in the first round during the 2023 NBA Draft, is also coming to the Pacers. Mathurin and Jackson are off to LA. On top of those two players, the Pacers are sending the Clippers three draft picks:

1. 2026 Pacers first-round draft pick, protected for selections 1-4 and 10-30. If the pick falls within its protected range(s), then the Clippers will receive the Pacers 2031 first-round draft pick, unprotected.
2. 2029 Pacers first-round draft pick, unprotected.
3. 2028 Mavericks second-round draft pick, unprotected. (The Pacers acquired this pick from the Sacramento Kings in 2023 when they sent away Chris Duarte.)

The Clippers prize? It depends who you ask. Mathurin has a high ceiling. Any unprotected draft pick could be valuable, and it's possible the Pacers sent away two.

It also, of course, could be that 2026 first rounder. The Pacers, who currently have the third-worst record in the NBA, will send their upcoming first-round selection to the Clippers if it lands at No. 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9. Any other selection will go to the Pacers, and a 2031 first-round pick will go to LA if that happens.

It's a gamble for the Pacers. President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard, responding to a tweet stating that the draft lottery is going to be wild for the Pacers, said: "Yes it is!!!!" followed by three popcorn emojis.

(Pritchard's statement on the trade, via the Pacers: "We are very excited to welcome Kobe Brown and Ivica Zubac – one of the league's best centers – into our organization and community. We are continually identifying ways to enhance our team, strengthen the culture we've built, and position ourselves for future success, and we feel both players will help us achieve those goals in different ways.")

While the Pacers have a strong incentive (they already did, but now for different reasons) to angle for a bottom-three record this season, they have more to consider. I thought Kyle Taylor laid it out well here.

The Clippers, I'm told, are the team that pushed for the 10-30 protections on the 2026 draft pick. That's logical – there is less upside in the selection if it falls later in the lottery. But it does open up more avenues in the next 31 games for Indiana.

And then, of course, there are the players sent by the Pacers.

Mathurin and Jackson were two fairly straightforward trade candidates for the Pacers. Mathurin's contract expires in the summer, and he's due for a raise. Jackson, who is still working his way back from a torn achilles, is overpaid for the role he would likely have on a competitive team. Exchanging those contracts – especially for a valuable one in Zubac's three-year, now $61 million deal – does make good sense for the Pacers.

That doesn't make it easy, though. Both players were drafted by the organization and spent multiple years with the franchise. Mathurin was the top scorer in an NBA Finals game and has dazzling highs. Jackson was a useful reserve during the Pacers 2024 Eastern Conference Finals run. Both players are young, sure, but they've also proven they can contribute on big stages.

Losing them, even for a much-needed upgrade at a position of need, isn't easy. "It's emotional when you get to a situation like this where there's an agreement in place," Carlisle shared. "They are guys that were drafted here, and we've had a significant journey with both," he noted earlier.

Jackson went from an athletic yet raw, unpolished center to a more forceful one in Indiana. He walked out of the Pacers practice facility just before 3 p.m. ET for the last time before the trade became official.

Mathurin, meanwhile, was always balancing his natural talents, particularly as a scorer, with his fit in the Pacers style – and that's a style many other teams around the NBA are trying to emulate. At times, he looked incredible. At other moments, the ball stuck with him while it flowed elsewhere.

The Pacers started Mathurin to open the season, and he was sensational in his first two games before a toe injury. Now, his tenure with the blue and gold is over. "He's grown as a guy that has adapted to a style that really is becoming the style in the NBA," Carlisle said. "There have been ups and downs. There are ups and downs with all young players. But at this moment, I'm proud to say I just believe that he's the best equipped he's ever been for the next chapter."

Then, Carlisle provided a key detail. "And it was very possible that that chapter could have been here. But this is an opportunity neither franchise could pass on." Mathurin, a league source shared, did not request a trade ahead of the deadline.

"Assuming everything goes well with the physicals and logistics, this will be a win-win," Carlisle concluded of the deal with the Clippers.

There is no looking back for the Pacers, who are competing to win multiple playoff series once Haliburton returns to the floor. This trade, while seen as pricey to some, helps them do that. A Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Siakam, and Zubac starting five has the potential to be elite on both ends of the court, and all of those players are under contract with the Pacers through the 2027-28 season.

Zubac is eligible for a contract extension on September 3, should the Pacers and the big man want to prolong that partnership. Nesmith extended his deal last offseason, and in the coming summer all of Zubac, Haliburton, Siakam, and Nembhard are eligible for longer deals, though there is no immediate rush.

Brown is a development project. The former first-round pick is already 26, and the Clippers declined the fourth-year team option in his rookie-scale contract for the 2026-27 season. His contract will expire in the summer, and the Pacers can't offer him more than $4.8 million in 2026 free agency. Despite being a 2023 draft pick, he's older than Haliburton and Nembhard.

"He's a... young player who's had some good stretches. We'll see how it all goes with him, but this will be a great opportunity for him to get a change of scenery as well," Carlisle said of Brown.

The Pacers will have about 30 games to evaluate the Missouri product down the stretch of this season. Ditto for Zubac, though his real evaluation begins next season when Haliburton is back on the hardwood.

In the meantime, Zubac has already connected with Carlisle on a phone call. The Pacers head coach has praised Zubac in the past, as far back as 2020, and spent time on Thursday recalling how effective the big man was when the Clippers and Carlisle's Mavericks met in the postseason in both 2020 and 2021.

Since then, Carlisle has been impressed with how the Clippers have developed his skills. On their phone call, Zubac and his new head coach connected over the fact that Carlisle coached Croatian legend Dražen Petrović when he was an assistant with the New Jersey Nets in the early 1990s. Petrović is a Croatian basketball legend.

"Because of Drazen, I know a little bit of Croatian," Carlisle said. That will help him connect with the Pacers new starting center after their bold, decisive trade.

Thank you for reading. The Pacers are heading out on the road for their next six games, and I will be at five of them. Subscribe to not miss any coverage of the team's new look.