The Indiana Pacers are currently undergoing an evolution, like a caterpillar in a chrysalis. They entered their 2025-26 gap season, shelling up and preparing to emerge as a butterfly. The Pacers of yesteryear – the same ones that made a run to the NBA Finals before losing in Game 7 – no longer exist. They have been phased out, despite little change in talent.
That choice was made in no small part because of the trade for Ivica Zubac. Indiana gave up Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks, and a second-round pick.
While all assets from the trade, except for the second, have been conveyed in their form, the trade will not be over until the Pacers figure out how to properly integrate Zubac.
Zubac was clearly the best center on the market. Considering how much of a need the NBA as a whole has for good center play, as seen in the Boston Celtics chasing Mitchell Robinson the way they did, it made sense that Indiana made such an aggressive trade for a position of need.
Unleashing Big Zu
However, Zubac certainly isn't the perfect fit that former Pacers center Myles Turner was. Turner, as a lanky, less massive big, was able to run in transition for trailing threes and moved with an agility that Zubac unfortunately does not have.
Now, that is not to say that Zubac is not the far better player, or to deny that Turner became deeply overrated for being a center who cannot rebound and whose blocked shots usually had little to no defensive impact. It is to say that the Pacers will need to change.
Zubac's main strengths on offense are in the low post or as a screener. Indiana has some experience setting up post play, as Pascal Siakam loves to go to work in similar spots.
They have far less experience working the pick-and-roll, however.
If we're being completely honest, the last time Tyrese Haliburton ran regular touches with a true P-and-R big was when he was playing alongside Richaun Holmes on the Sacramento Kings.
That's not to say he isn't capable, just to say that it is a muscle that has not been used in a while.
However, it is exactly Zubac's dynamism in the half court, alongside his rebounding on defense, that made him such an appealing trade target. If Indiana wants to turn into a butterfly that can fly well above the world below it and win a championship, they will need to learn how to maximize that.
While Zubac, as an individual, will need to learn how to fit within the structure the Pacers already have, this is what it means to build a partnership.
It has always been necessary for coaches to change their system for their best players, and for their best players to find the ideal path forward with everyone else on the roster.
In a vacuum, Tyrese Haliburton and Ivica Zubac fit very well. Zubac can be an excellent force for this team, the yin to the yang of Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard.
Basketball is not played in a vacuum, though. Context is arguably more important than anything else.
If Indiana wants to win a title, they will need to make that context work for them instead of simply ignoring it, as if talent is the only thing that matters.
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