How Indiana's Blockbuster Trade Recharges Haliburton's Pacers

Pacers land prized big man Ivica Zubac before NBA Trade Deadline

Feb 23, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots against LA Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Pacers just added an All-NBA level talent in Ivica Zubac via trade from the Los Angeles Clippers.

Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson are heading to Los Angeles from Indiana as a part of the deal, as the Clippers seem to be clearing house for a reset for one reason or another; however, Los Angeles also acquired key draft capital from the Pacers:

'The Clippers are receiving a 2026 first-round pick from the Pacers, protected 1-4 and 10-30, plus a 2029 Pacers unprotected first-rounder,' via ESPN's Shams Charania.

This means if Indiana wins the draft lottery, the top-4 pick stays with them, and if Indiana wins enough games for the pick to fall between 10-30, it also stays with them; however, if the Pacers lottery ball unluckily falls between 5-9, the Clippers suddenly own the Pacer's prized 2026 pick.

The pick in 2029 that Indiana gave up is completely unprotected, which is a pretty huge bet on their core being good again going forward; when healthy, its a good bet to make, but betting against future injuries can feel like fool's gold in a league so chalk-full of them.

The Pacers don't need to know why Los Angeles is moving on from Zubac; they'll be happy to set up their frontcourt with a complementary third co-star defensive anchor who should fit in alongside all of Indiana's core guys in Tyrese Haliburton, Andrw Nembhard, and Pascal Siakam going forward.

How does Zubac fit with Haliburton, Nembhard, and Siakam?

Feb 6, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) drives past Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) and and guard Norman Powell (24) in the second half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Zubac fits in today and tomorrow for this Pacers team.

Since Indiana badly needs their 2026 pick to stay in the Top-4, they will likely limit their best personnel's playing time this season, meaning Zubac might not be used to his maximum abilities.

One would guess they will build some chemistry with Zubac, Siakam, and Nembhard now, while also losing enough games to give the team the best odds of keeping this insanely valuable draft pick.

If the team keeps this pick, this time next year the team could roll out a lineup of Haliburton - Nembhard - Siakam - Zubac plus a rookie as exciting as AJ Dybantsa or Caleb Wilson on the wing, which would continue to help rebuild this rising contender on the fly.

Zubac is a mobile traditional center who screens and rolls hard to the rack, runs the floor hard, and defends the rim like crazy, able to bang bodies with other big brutes down low on both sides.

This big man rim-roller provides a great short-roll playmaker and strong play-finisher option to roll off screens in handoffs and pick-and-rolls with Haliburton and Nembhard, and even gives Indiana the option of running 4-5 P&R with Siakam handling the ball, Zubac rolling, and guards spacing.

Zubac doesn't spread the floor from deep, but Siakam can hit open jumpers, so the two can still run double drag and horns sets, or spain/stack pick-and-roll with Indiana's other shooters flaring out.

Indiana is betting on themselves while gambling on a little bit of lottery luck going their way in a loaded draft class; the worst case of this deal gets dark, where the glass half-full is that Zubac is the big addition going forward either way, but the 2026 first could get bumped to a less-talented 2027 class, or a doomsday scenario where injuries strike again and make the 2029 unprotected pick just as valuable as this 2026 one.

The Pacers believe that Haliburton-Siakam-Zubac-Nembhard is a playoff-level contending core for the foreseeable future, and if they stay healthy, there's little reason to disagree, so their front office likely sees these picks as means to an end to surround that core with its best chance to win.

Combining Zubac's screening, rolling, playmaking, postup defense, rim-protection, mismatch scoring and play-finishing at the rim provides the Pacers a 3rd All-NBA level talent to build around in the prime of his career, and that's generally the type of player worth betting on, especially when he complements your ready-made contending core on paper.