Who should the Pacers draft if they win the NBA Lottery?

The 2026 NBA Trade deadline is approaching fast. The Indiana Pacers already have teams inquiring about Bennedict Mathurin. According to Mike A Scotto; ““I know of a team with cap space that has liked him during his career. I don’t know if they’ll spend the money on him at the position…I know of another team who has inquired several times on the trade market.” The Pacers will have until February 5th 2026 to decide if they want regain value from him or risk losing him at the end of the season.

The latest on Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin with @MikeAScotto:

“I know of a team with cap space that has liked him during his career. I don’t know if they’ll spend the money on him at the position…I know of another team who has inquired several times on the trade market.” pic.twitter.com/oGQ18Nylos
— Alex Golden (@AlexGoldenNBA) December 17, 2025

According to tankathon.com the Pacers currently have the 4th best odds of winning the Draft Lottery. Here is the article where I broke down those odds and how the lottery works. If they’re lucky enough and get the first overall pick. They will have a tough decision to make.

The top three prospects in the 2026 NBA Draft as of today would be Darryn Peterson (Kansas), Aj Dybantsa (BYU) and Cam Boozer (Duke). Stick with us all year long as I bring you player profiles and rankings on all of the 2026 NBA Draft class. You can read about Tonde Yessoufou (Baylor) from my last article here.

The Darryn Peterson possibility

Evaluation: Today we dive deeper into Darryn Peterson, the freshman from Kansas. He is currently number one on my big board. He is one of the most polished players I have ever seen at his age. He moves at his own pace. He is never sped up. He can play on or off ball.

His handles are terrific. He can slither pick and rolls, while keeping players on his hip. His spot up shooting is excellent. His ability to shoot off the bounce is just as good. His ability to shoot the ball over length is special. He is a true three level scorer. He can pass the rock without turning the ball over and has natural instincts defensively in the passing lanes.

My biggest concern is we have not seen him fully healthy all season. He is in amazing shape but has struggled with an hamstring injury. Only playing in 4 games this season. Once we get to conference play we should help to solidify our evaluation. We use all the information including the NCAA tournament and NBA combine measurables.

The decision to move Mathurin or not will begin to take shape in the coming months. If Indiana moves him before the trade deadline, they will be in prime position to enhance the roster for Haliburton’s return. Landing the top pick in the lottery may be enough to push the Pacers back into contention in 2026. A prospect like Peterson doesn’t just fit the modern NBA he would thrive next to Haliburton and push the franchise toward a bright future.