When will Ivica Zubac debut for the Indiana Pacers?

Before Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, head coach, Rick Carlisle, was asked by reporters in pregame media if Ivicia Zubac would play this season.

Since the Pacers acquired Zubac on Feb. 5, 2026, he has yet to play for the team. He has repeatedly been on the injury report as “out” due to an ankle injury.

Zubac suffered the ankle injury previously with the Clippers on Dec. 20, 2026 against the Los Angeles Lakers, but returned sooner than expected, missing just six games, when that serious of an ankle injury usually has a timetable for four-six weeks.

As the Clippers were trying to turn their season around, Zubac decided to play on the ankle although he wasn’t one-hundred percent, because he was well enough to play on it and give the Clippers a much needed boost at the center position.

With Indiana being in the situation that they’re in, it doesn’t make sense for Zubac to rush back from the injury and to let it fully heal…and then some.

Indiana has no desire to rush Big Zu back onto the court as they have bigger goals to achieve than developing chemistry with his new teammates. The goal is still to position themselves to have the best lottery odds to retain the pick that is protected 1-4 and 10-30.

The @LAClippers decorated Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown’s lockers for their return 🫶 pic.twitter.com/fb288mgZRy
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) March 5, 2026

There are still 20 games left to be played, and this will allow for Big Zu to return to action, where the Pacers can get a better look at how he fits with his new teammates in a real NBA game. However, the amount of minutes that the Pacers limit Big Zu to will be worth monitoring.

To look at how the Pacers have handled foot injuries during this time, the best example would be how Carlisle manages Obi Toppin’s minutes. Rick told reporters before the Pacers Sunday game against the Memphis Grizzlies that Toppin would likely stay around the 8-9 minute mark that he played against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday, Feb. 26th. Toppin did end up going a little over in minutes against Memphis, but he still only played 11 minutes and they were all in the first half.

That is how I would envision Zubac’s minutes to go. On a restriction and likely only in the first half. This gives the Pacers the best of both worlds: you get to see how your new center looks with a good amount of the core that will need to be a part of this team’s playoff run next season, and you also don’t overexert him minute wise, allowing players in the second and third tier of the rotation minutes of experience.

Just like Toppin is using this time to get his conditioning back up and get his feel for the game, while shaking off all the rust, Zubac can do the same thing when he does return from injury.

While there is no timetable on when Big Zu will make his return, pay close attention to the Pacers injury report. If he is upgraded from “out” to “questionable”, there is an extremely solid chance that he plays in the next game.

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