The ping-pong balls did not bounce in Indiana’s favor on May 10, delivering a historic gut punch to a franchise that desperately needed a break.
Despite finishing the season with a 19-63 record — the second-worst spot in the NBA — the Indiana Pacers walked away from the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago completely empty-handed.
Entering the afternoon, the Pacers held a 52% chance of securing a top-four selection and retaining their pick. Instead, the lottery results dropped Indiana to the No. 5 overall spot.
Due to protections on a midseason trade involving center Ivica Zubac, that selection now goes directly to the Los Angeles Clippers, leaving the 2025 Eastern Conference Champions without a first-round pick in the draft.
“I’m really sorry to all our fans,” Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said. “I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up fifth after this year.”
The draft complication stems from a trade executed just before the deadline in February. Following the offseason departure of starting center Myles Turner to the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency, Indiana’s front office aggressively sought a long-term replacement.
To acquire Zubac and Kobe Brown from Los Angeles, the Pacers sent a package featuring Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, a 2028 second-round pick, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and their 2026 first-round selection.
Crucially, Indiana placed protections on the 2026 pick, allowing them to retain it only if it landed between Nos. 1-4 or Nos. 10-30.
Because the lottery mathematically pushed the Pacers backward to No. 5, the pick officially transfers to the Clippers.
Had Indiana retained the pick, the franchise would have owed Los Angeles a 2031 first-rounder instead. By losing the No. 5 selection, the Pacers keep that future asset but miss out on immediate, cost-controlled help.
Furthermore, Indiana does not own a second-round pick either, as their No. 32 overall selection already belongs to the Memphis Grizzlies following an earlier transaction.
To understand why falling just one spot out of protection is being viewed as a cataclysmic disaster for the franchise, one only needs to look at the collegiate resumes of the players Indiana will likely miss out on.
Had the lottery balls cooperated, the Pacers would have been in a position to draft a foundational talent. The consensus top prospect is BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, who led the nation in scoring this season with 25.5 points per game as a freshman.
Right alongside Dybantsa is Duke’s Cameron Boozer, the reigning AP College Player of the Year, who averaged 22.5 points and 10.1 rebounds.
The elite tier also includes Kansas combo guard Darryn Peterson, who poured in 20.2 points per game for the Jayhawks, and North Carolina standout Caleb Wilson, who averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds.
Missing out on that tier of talent drastically alters how Indiana must approach this offseason and replace Mathurin’s production.
For a franchise with a documented history of bad luck surrounding the NBA draft, the lottery’s outcome ranks among the most agonizing moments in team history.
Losing a top-five pick outright due to the cruelty of lottery regression is an exceptionally rare scenario across the league, but for Indiana, it highlights an ugly trend. The Pacers are the only team among this year’s top odds-holders to have never landed the No. 1 overall pick since the lottery was established in 1985. In fact, Indiana has not been selected in the top five of the NBA Draft since taking Rik Smits at No. 2 overall in 1988.
They are a franchise that historically never rises in the lottery, and this weekend, their fall cost them nearly everything.
The gamble on Zubac failed to produce immediate on-court results this spring. The 29-year-old center battled lingering problems and a fractured rib, limiting him to a handful of games in a Pacers uniform this season as the team plummeted.
Pacers General Manager Chad Buchanan had no idea how true his words would ring before the lottery.
“If you don’t keep the pick, there’s going to be some disappointment,” Buchanan said, days before the lottery. “All of us are competitive, you want to have good fortune, but I think it’s our job as a front office and organization to prepare for all scenarios.”
It appears one of those ill-fated scenarios is currently unfolding.
With Tyrese Haliburton expected to return next season following his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon Shingles, the team will have a lot of decisions to make.
The Washington Wizards ultimately secured the No. 1 overall pick, while the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, and Chicago Bulls rounded out the top four, respectively.
“I thought we were due some luck,” Pritchard said.
The NBA Draft is scheduled for June 23 and 24 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Contact multimedia & senior sports reporter Noral Parham at 317-762-7846 or email at noralp@indyrecorder.com Follow him on X @3Noral. For more news, visit indianapolisrecorder.com.
Noral Parham is the multi-media reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder, one of the oldest Black publications in the country. Prior to joining the Recorder, Parham served as the community advocate of the MLK Center in Indianapolis and senior copywriter for an e-commerce and marketing firm in Denver.
