The Biggest Mistake the Indiana Pacers Made This Season

It has been a forgettable season for the Indiana Pacers, who currently own the worst record in the NBA.

There is, of course, a potential silver lining. Indiana could land a top-four pick in the upcoming draft. But if the Pacers finish with one of the league’s worst records only to see the pick fall between No. 5 and No. 9, where it would convey to the Los Angeles Clippers, all of those losses would suddenly feel far less meaningful.

The Pacers will certainly be hoping the lottery balls bounce in their favor. But as history has shown, there are no guarantees.

Including this year’s draft pick in the Ivica Zubac trade was undeniably risky. Still, that may not have been the organization’s biggest mistake this season.

When evaluating the roster, the larger issue was Indiana’s lack of urgency during the offseason to address the center position.

The Pacers mishandled negotiations with Myles Turner — even if his eventual departure to Milwaukee ends up being the right move long-term. Once Turner left, Indiana’s response at the position never truly stabilized the roster.

To “replace” Turner, the Pacers sent two second-round picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jay Huff, a center Memphis no longer wanted.

To Huff’s credit, he has been a soldier for Indiana this season, appearing in every game. But it was evident as early as the preseason that he was not a long-term solution at the position.

Indiana also re-signed James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson — both players coming off Achilles injuries — while Tony Bradley held onto a roster spot with a non-guaranteed contract.

If the Pacers’ goal entering the season was to compete before injuries began piling up, building a center rotation around Huff, Wiseman and Jackson represented a clear misstep in roster evaluation.

The Pacers waived Wiseman after just three games to sign Mac McClung, and the team cycled through multiple players as injuries created additional roster holes.

Once Turner departed in free agency, Indiana needed to act more decisively. One obvious option would have been bringing back Thomas Bryant on a minimum contract, especially after his productive regular season with the team last year.

Instead, the Pacers entered the season with a glaring hole at center.

Around the league, teams recognized Indiana’s urgency to fill that void. With the center market already thin, the Pacers found themselves negotiating from a position of weakness.

That ultimately led to the trade for Zubac — a move that cost Indiana significant draft capital for a player who has never been an All-Star and owns career averages of 10.5 points and 8.3 rebounds.

To be clear, Zubac is a good player. His production last season showed he is capable of more than those career averages suggest, and he does fill a legitimate need on Indiana’s roster.

But the price was steep, and it was largely driven by the reality that the Pacers had waited too long to solve the problem.

Some moves along the way made sense. Trading for Huff was understandable. Bringing back Isaiah Jackson — even if the contract may have been slightly above market value — was defensible.

Re-signing Wiseman, however, proved to be a mistake.

At the time, the deal seemed like a worthwhile gamble. In hindsight, that roster spot could have been used on a more reliable center option.

Ultimately, the Pacers’ biggest mistake this season came down to two connected decisions: failing to reach a better resolution with Turner in free agency and failing to secure a starting-caliber replacement once he left.

One of my favorite Reality TV personalities, Q Burdette from Survivor famously says, “Biiiiig mistake. You shouldn’t have done that.” And in many ways, that phrase perfectly captures the Pacers’ approach to the center position this offseason.

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