While all eyes in preseason have been on Tyrese Haliburton's return, Indiana Pacers Center Ivica Zubac has quietly been auditioning for the adoration of fans all over Indiana and the world at large. After only playing five games for the Pacers after he was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers, Zubac has come out to show the Pacers faithful why no one should be worrying about the fifth overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
Zubac has been phenomenal across three games, taking up massive amounts of space as a screener, rebounding everything, and even showing some life as a passer and scorer in the Pacers' once-clunky half-court offense.
There were many (including myself) who had some worries about how Zubac would fit in with the pace that Indiana likes to play at. While some credit should definitely go to the coaching staff for finding a way to make things work, it has instead been Zubac who has made the most changes in his game.
Between those improvements and the things he already did well, this has been about as good a three-game stretch as the Pacers could have possibly hoped for. If this (and Tyrese Haliburton's excellent return) continues into the regular season, Indiana will be set up for a ton of success.
The Zubac trade was always the right move
When the Pacers traded for Zubac, they were doing so for two reasons.
First and most obviously, he is an excellent player, and good teams should be in the business of trading for excellent players. Secondly, they were hoping to trade for a player using an asset that was more valuable in the moment than it would have been in the summer. Even if the Clippers got the best possible outcome for themselves with that 2026 pick, the Pacers making that trade when they did meant that no one could beat them to the finish line because they couldn't even start running yet.
However, these details in the acquisition of Zubac also failed to consider why he was even valued so highly as a center in the first place.
Pacers fans and NBA fans alike spent a lot of the summer complaining about the trade made for what they consider to be simply a good starter, but there's a big difference between a starter who is simply good at anything and a starter so good that they have star-level traits.
Zubac is in the second category. He may just be one of the best players in the league at boxing out, providing his team a capable rebounding ecosystem. He is among the best screen setters, leveraging his frame to eat up incredible amounts of space for pindowns and pick-and-rolls alike. Most valuably, his start as a low-usage role player on the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers has left him capable of scaling himself both down and up as needed for the team.
All in all, this is the exact type of player you want as your third option. He can do more but is also comfortable doing less. On a team that already has so many hungry mouths but still needs capable scoring, connective passing, and all things winning basketball, there is no better option than Ivica Zubac.
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