The Pacers Gambled, And Lost. What Comes Next?
The Indiana Pacers made a bet when they traded, among a plethora of other assets, a protected 2026 first rounder for Los Angeles Clippers’ center Ivica Zubac. Unfortunately, Lady Luck was not on their side.
The Pacers left Chicago empty handed after they drew the 5th-overall selection, which heads to Los Angeles as part of the compensation for Zubac. It’s an incredibly disappointing gut punch for the Pacers; after a 19-win season that was largely the result of injuries to key players, you can forgive Pacers fans for thinking they were owed a bit of good fortune. Alas, the basketball gods had no sympathy for Indiana.
As upsetting as the results are right now, all is not lost. Zubac fills a big hole on the Pacers roster; had they not made the trade and kept the 5th pick, it’s a hole they might have struggled to fill. If Tyrese Haliburton comes back at full strength from his Achilles injury, the Pacers championship window should still be wide open, and will remain so for at least the next two seasons. Missing out on a Top 4 pick sucks, but the impact won’t really be felt until 3-4 years from now.
Sometimes the cards (or in this case, ping pong balls) fall your way, and sometimes they don’t. For the Pacers, all they can do now is move forward, hope Zubac proves to be worth it, try to capitalize on the championship window they have created. During the Monday edition of The Ride With JMV, John gave his thoughts on how they can do just that, as well as his overall reaction to the lottery outcome. Listen to that and more below and tune into The Ride With JMV weekdays from 3-6pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan!
