Indiana Pacers get: Ivica Zubac
Indiana Pacers lose: Isaiah Jackson, Jarace Walker, 2027 first-round pick, 2030 second-round pick, 2032 second-round pick
Surrendering a future first-round pick when you have a bottom-four record typically isn’t considered good practice. Then again, the Indiana Pacers aren’t your typical bottom-four team.
Championship contention should resume in earnest next season once Tyrese Haliburton returns from his Achilles injury. The uncertainty of what he’ll look like complicates how the Pacers go about their business, but adding a top lottery pick and Zubac should only make his life easier while arming the team with more escape hatches to explore if things go wrong.
None of the outbound assets here should give Indy pause. Walker’s future with the team is murky given his skill set and lack of defensive growth, and his extension eligibility next summer will force the Pacers to render a verdict on him anyway.
There might be some upside to the 2027 pick. But if Indy is even halfway decent, one first and two seconds is a reasonable price to pay for a starting center on a team-friendly deal that pays him $40.6 million combined in 2026-27 and 2027-28.
Though Zubac isn’t often associated with floor-running chaos, he has thrived on faster iterations of the Clippers. His rim protection remains stellar, and he has a quicker lateral gait than credited when he’s pulled out of the paint. He doesn’t provide stretch alongside Pascal Siakam, but the Pacers can turn to Jay Huff for that. The defensive ceiling in lineups with Zubac, Siakam, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith would be bonkers.
Indiana remains under the tax this year as part of this trade and isn’t tacking on much money in 2026-27. Going from Jackson and Walker to Zubac adds about $4 million and keeps the Pacers around $12.9 million below next season’s tax. Much of that space will get eaten up by this year’s draft pick, which complicates Bennedict Mathurin’s restricted free agency, but Indy was always going to grapple with that issue.