The Pacers get their much-needed center, trade for the Clippers' Ivica Zubac

Benn Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson and two first rounders will land in LA, but it's worth the investment. The Pacers needed a low-post bruiser and they got one.

Just months after Myles Turner left for greener(?) pastures in Milwaukee, the Pacers have their franchise center in former Clipper Ivica Zubac. Yes, Kevin Pritchard, who remade this team through masterful trades in recent years, has done it again. The message is clear: The Pacers, who figure to be whole next season with Tyrese Haliburton’s return, are taking full advantage of this championship window.

Now, if they can tank effectively enough to earn a top-4 draft pick, the Pacers will be absolutely loaded as they prepare for next season. If there’s a concern, it’s that they figure to be a better team this year with Zubac in the lineup, which may imperil their shot at a top-4 pick. I would fully expect there will be a lot of load management and nagging injuries as we embark on the latter part of the season.

Did they give up a lot? Yes and no.

I’ve never felt that Bennedict Mathurin was a fit in Indiana, and the Pacers, who failed to sign him to an extension before this season, knew that in their bones as well. For years, Mathurin has tried and tried to alter his game, be less one-on-one oriented, play to the Pacers strengths. But it never quite happened.

He’ll go to LA and be a 20-plus-point-per-game scorer, but my question with Mathurin has always been this: He can score lots of points, but does he impact winning? I’ve always seen him as a guy who can score 22 a game for a team that wins 25 games. He had moments, a number of them (24 points in Game 7 in Oklahoma City), and it’s always tough to trade away a 23-year-old player who was the Pacers’ highest draft selection since George McCloud in 1989. But Zubac is worth the investment.

I will admit, I gasped initially when I saw all the details of the trade: Beyond Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson, the Pacers are also giving up next year’s first-round pick if it falls between Nos. 5-9 – plus an unprotected first rounder in 2029. So basically, if the Pacers earn lottery spots five through nine, that pick goes to the Clippers and the Pacers’ unprotected first conveys to 2031.

Bottom line: Root for losses. Lots of them. That’s an imperative.