Pacers 2026 mark as NBA trade deadline after Ivica Zubac’s last-minute stunner

The Indiana Pacers they’ve known for so long that the 2025-26 season is great and they’re just biding their time in preparation for an expected return to contention next season. After reaching the 2025 NBA Finals, the Pacers are expected to pick up where they once left off Tyrese Halliburton returns from injury.

Now, Myles Turner’s departure has changed the Pacers’ priorities. Instead of holding steady and keeping their core, Indiana had to be aggressive in the trade market in their pursuit of a replacement for Turner, and in their aggression, Ivica Zubac agreed — a nightly dual threat who will enjoy the open looks Halliburton will create for him.

The Pacers may have only made one trade before the deadline, but this was a hit that will surely affect their performance for the next few seasons.

How did the Pacers do before the deadline?

Pacers better be ready to play differently with Ivica Zubac

For as much flak as Turner gets to screw up in free agencyhe fit perfectly into the Pacers’ pace-and-space system. As a longtime member of the team, Turner has learned how to play at a breakneck pace while still having the stamina necessary to protect the rim and hit open shots.

Now he was under the gas of the NBA Finals, which explains why his play dropped significantly against the Oklahoma City Thunder. But his departure was a huge loss for Indiana and a big reason why they weren’t even a respectable team this season. Jay Huff and Micah Potter have shown they are serviceable, but they are not starting-caliber big men, and the Pacers knew it.

The Pacers have long expressed a desire to acquire a starting center, and Zubac, who is only 28 years old, fits their contention time frame. Zubac is one of the best defenders in the center and is one of the few players who can do it held against Nikola Jokić and other beasts – making it a very valuable asset.

However, Indiana will have to prepare to play differently now that Zubac is their starting center through 2028. For starters, Zubac is nowhere near what Turner had for the team. He’s literally only made one 3-pointer in his career thus far, and while his jump shot has looked good at times, it will be quite a surprise if he somehow channels his inner Brook Lopez and becomes a marker in the second half of his career.

Tooth indicated that the Pacers are looking to him more often from the corner and that Indiana is looking at him to extend his range, the 28-year-old center says he may have to get used to standing in the corner instead of the dunk spot he’s used to.

Perhaps Zubac would be best suited for a drastic mid-career adaptation in a Pacers uniform. But Indiana must know that Lopez was an anomaly, not the norm in any capacity. Zubac is at his best near the basket, and he’s at his best when he gets touches off pick-and-rolls as well as post-ups in the center of the paint.

The good news is that Halliburton will know how best to work with Zubac; it’s just his power as one of the best floor generals in the association. And Zubac gives them something they didn’t have when Turner was on board — more pressure on the rim.

Turner was never the best finisher around the rim, nor was he the best vertical threat. Zubac has an exceptional touch around the basket, and his partnership with James Harden made him look like a million bucks. When the going gets tough, Zubac can bully the league’s smaller and lankier bigs, including Chet Holmgren, and could force other teams to play bigs without spacing the floor just to combat his physicality in the paint.

Some would argue that Zubac is a worse defender in space than Turner. But Pacers fans would be quick to remind everyone that Turner was never the fastest to begin with.

The tooth is an extremely good for the Pacers and he solves their central problems. But bringing him in didn’t come cheap.

Zu costs the Indians a potential top-five pick, as well as Benedict Maturin

It has been rumored for a long time that Mathurin is available on the market, and The Pacers finally pulled the trigger to the craft. He just didn’t fit the trajectory of the Pacers franchise and was ready for a new contract. It was smart for Indiana to turn a young player with potential like Maturin into a proven center like Zubac, knowing they didn’t want to pay him big for a long-term extension anyway.

Isaiah Jackson was solid rebounding, but didn’t really stand out among the scrappy group of Pacers centers.

The The Pacers’ biggest gamble it came in the form of trading their 2026 first-round pick, which they protected for selections 1-4 and 10-30. They’re basically saying they don’t care about the prospects being picked in the 5-9 range enough that they’re better off losing that pick if it falls in that range rather than losing to Zubac.

This suggests that the Pacers view Darin Peterson, Cam Boozer, AJ Dibanza and Caleb Wilson as easy picks, and that Zubac was a better consolation prize than losing on any of those four.

If the Pacers’ 2026 first-round pick falls into the protected range, the Clippers will get their unprotected pick in 2031. This is a smart move for the Pacers, again, as they aren’t really sold on prospects outside of the top four and are better off bringing in someone who fits their timeline like Zubac.

However, giving up a 2029 first-round pick along with everything else seems like a very high price to pay. But Zubac has one of the best contracts in the NBA (a a total of approx $42 million over the next two seasons), and it’s hard to blame the Pacers for having so much faith in their core given the heights they reached when Haliburton was healthy.

Pacers Trade Deadline Grade: A-