Pacers lose NBA Draft lottery, won't pick in the 2026 NBA Draft
The Indiana Pacers' ping pong balls didn't bounce their way, getting the fifth pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, which goes to the Clippers in the Zubac trade
CHICAGO -- The Pacers will not have a pick in the draft following their worst season in franchise history. The Pacers entered Sunday's NBA Draft Lottery at Navy Pier with the best possible odds to be selected for a top-four pick in the June draft after posting a 19-63 record, the second-worst in the NBA. However, the ping-pong balls didn't bounce their way, none of their lottery combinations were selected and they were given the fifth pick in Sunday's lottery.
The Pacers don't get to keep the pick because they conditionally traded it to the Clippers in February in the trade that brought center Ivica Zubac to Indiana. The Pacers had the pick protected so they got to keep it if it landed in picks 1-4 or picks 10-30 but lost it to Los Angeles if it fell between 5-9. Had they kept this pick, they would have sent their 2031 first-round pick to the Clippers.
In this case, they get to keep that selection. The Pacers also don't have a second-round pick in the draft, having previously traded that pick. The Grizzlies hold what was the Pacers' No.
32 pick. Washington, Memphis, Chicago and Utah received the top four picks. The Pacers made the trade believing that their most important roster priority was getting an every-day center after they lost 10-year veteran Myles Turner to the Bucks in free agency last July.