They’d make the Ivica Zubac trade all over again if given the opportunity.
Even knowing the Pacers would lose the top-four protected draft pick that they ended up gifting to the LA Clippers, the Pacers still would have made the deal to bring Zubac, a top-10 center in the NBA, to Indianapolis.
For a very good reason.
Because Zubac, who everybody calls “Zu,” is worth it.
“I think as you look at how things played out and our glaring need at the center position (after Myles Turner left in free agency), I felt like --- and our whole staff felt like – that our team was right there,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said Thursday during the Pacers’ now-annual golf outing at the Brickyard, the proceeds going to Rick Carlisle’s “Drive and Dish” program. “We were right on the cusp of being a championship team. Why should we be patient and wait for something else down the road? Why should we be thinking long term? Like, it’s right there in front of us and we felt like an opportunity to get a top 10 center in our league at the position that was obviously a big need for us, you know, we’ve been very selective on when we put draft picks into trades in the past, but this was a moment to go for it.
“This is a player who fits what our roster needs right now. The character of our locker room fits what his (Zubac’) personality is, and it was time to go for it. It was time to fill that need and put our team in the best position we could going into this season…And if we had not done the trade and keep the pick, you have a young player but you still have a hole at center…I just don’t think we felt great about that situation. Now, we had a bird in the hand, let’s go grab him. He’s a great player. He’s a great human being. He’s going to help this team and it was really an easy decision for us.”
No question, the Lottery process was devastating for the Pacers. Can you imagine this team with both Zubac and a top-four draft choice from last year’s top-heavy draft class? We’re not just talking about a team with championship aspirations, but one with staying power as well. A dynasty? Probably not, but they would have been a contender for years to come.
But there was a very good reason – many good reasons, in fact – why the Pacers made this deal and took the risk of losing the pick, the fifth in the draft, to the Clippers.
For one, as mentioned, the Pacers desperately needed a quality big man to pair with Tyrese Haliburton (he’ll be full go from the very start of training camp), Pascal Siakam and the rest of the crew. They were willing to risk losing the pick because from the five spot to the end of the lottery, the draft class was filled with guards. The Pacers, as you know, are not hurting for people in that position. As it turned out, the Clippers got the fifth pick and selected Illinois guard Keaton Wagler, who struggled in summer league. If the Pacers kept that pick, where would Wagler fit into the Pacers’ loaded back-court?
So what if they had passed on Zubac and waited until the summer? Well, there weren’t many options at the center spot. And the options that were available were over-priced.
The Lakers acquired the young Utah Jazz center in exchange for unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, plus first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. Moreover, Kessler’s contract is a four-year, $130 million deal, including a player option and a trade kicker.
Another center option, the former Knick Mitchell Robinson, was acquired by the Boston Celtics (who desperately wanted Zubac) and signed a 3-year, $47.4 million contract for a player who averaged 5.7 points per game and cannot for the life of him hit a free throw.
“I think the marketplace was quite interesting from the center market,” said Pacers’ vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Ted Wu. “It’s kind of one of those decision points; do you wait until the summer to kind of jump in when you don’t really know what’s going to play out?”
Zubac played just five games with the Pacers after last season’s trade deadline deal due to a lingering injury, but the Croatian is an established big man who has been a top-tier center for many years. In his last full year with the Clippers, 2024-25, he played 80 games, averaged 32.8 minutes per game, averaged 16.8 points on 63 percent shooting, 12.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
He’s a very different style of center than Turner, more muscular, a far better rebounder, a strong defender (but not quite the shot blocker that Turner was). He will fit the Pacers’ up-tempo style in a different way than Turner did, but his strengths will surely compliment Haliburton, Siakam and the rest. Trust me, Pacers’ fans: You’ll love this guy.
Will it take some time for Zubac to get used to the Pacers’ play style and vice versa? Certainly.
“I think it’s more of Zu adjusting to how we play but you know, Rick (Carlisle) is a brilliant coach,” Buchanan said. “Our coaching staff has shown the ability to adapt to different types of players and he’ll figure out how to maximize some of the things he does that are different than how we play. But as a whole, and we’ve communicated this to Zu and he understands after watching us play and playing against us – and being around our team last year – he’s got to play a little different stylistically…
“But we don’t want to take away from what he does well. I mean, he’s a physical presence on both ends of the floor. He’s a great defensive rebounder. He’s a great screen setter. And there are ways to acclimate those skills into our style of play. I mean, he may not be the fastest runner north and south, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still play fast and utilize him to play that way. Sometimes we think playing fast means fast breaking all the time. Really, our style of playing fast is making quick decisions with the ball. It’s a lot of ball movement, a lot of reversing the ball, and that accelerates our pace. Zu is a very good decision maker, so I think he’ll fit in in that regard.”
In a deep and loaded East, the addition of Zubac figures to keep the Pacers near the top of the division and conference. Sure, it would have been a tremendous coup to obtain Zubac and a top-four draft choice, but adding Zu alone is hardly a consolation prize. The Pacers, who start training camp next week, are going to return to the ranks of a contender, and Zubac will be a big reason for that.
Overall, he's a better fit then Turner.
I think assuming he’s “worth it” before seeing him prove it is jumping the gun a bit. Let’s see it first. Think of how Miles bombed in Milwaukee. Or Anthony Richardson. Or for that matter Trent Richardson. You never know until the chips play out whether it was really “worth it”.