Tim BontempsMay 10, 2026, 05:20 PM ETCloseTim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what’s impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.Follow on XMultiple Authors
“I’m really sorry to all our fans,” Pritchard posted on X Sunday afternoon, a short time after Indiana received the bad news at the league’s annual draft lottery in Chicago. “I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck. But please remember – this team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year. We have always been resilient.”
Pritchard and the Pacers had the league’s second-worst record this season at 19-63 — second only to the 18-64 Washington Wizards, who wound up winning this year’s top pick. As a result, Washington, Indiana and Brooklyn all ended the season with equal chances to both win the top pick (14 %) or land in the top four in the lottery (52%).
Because Washington moved up in the lottery, that meant Indiana landed fifth — and, as a result, the pick went to the Clippers instead.
Indiana valued Zubac, one of the better centers in the league, both because of his talent at a position of need — the Pacers never replaced Myles Turner, who signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason — and his contract, as Zubac is owed $20.3 million in 2026-27 and $21.7 million in 2027-28 before he can become an unrestricted free agent.
Indiana will be hoping to bounce back with another deep playoff run with a healthy Tyrese Haliburton, after he missed the entire season with a torn Achilles that he suffered in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Tim BontempsMay 10, 2026, 05:20 PM ETCloseTim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what’s impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.Follow on XMultiple Authors
CloseTim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what’s impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.Follow on X
After the Indiana Pacers found themselves on the wrong end of lottery luck Sunday, losing their 2026 first round pick in the process, president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard addressed a fanbase frustrated that a year full of losing didn’t net them a high draft pick, thanks to trading it to the LA Clippers for center Ivica Zubac back in February.
But the Pacers needed to land in the top four to keep the pick after trading it with protections to the Clippers for Zubac back in February. The trade sent two of Indiana’s first round picks to the Clippers, one in 2029 and then either this year’s pick if it fell outside of the top four or a 2031 unprotected first round pick if it did not