Indiana Pacers team president Kevin Pritchard has addressed his team’s fan base following the results of the 2026 NBA draft lottery.
The Pacers were widely considered the biggest losers of Sunday afternoon’s lottery results. Indiana traded its top-4 protected 2026 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers at the February deadline in a deal that netted them center Ivica Zubac.
As fate would have it, the Pacers’ pick fell to fifth and was conveyed to the Clippers. The Pacers had a 52.2 percent chance to keep the pick, but the ping pong balls did not fall their way.
Pritchard felt the need to apologize moments after results of the lottery were made public.
“I’m really sorry to all our fans,” Pritchard wrote in a social media post. “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.”
Indiana endured its worst season in franchise history by wins and losses this year, finishing with the second-worst record in the NBA at 19-63.
Zubac is a fine player whom the Pacers needed following the departure of Myles Turner during last free agency. But there’s an alternative universe where Indiana kept Zubac and also landed a franchise-altering prospect with one of the top-4 picks.
In this universe, Tyrese Haliburton could only post memes lamenting the loss of a pick that could have turned into another franchise cornerstone.
With the lottery results set in stone, the Pacers gave up a huge trade package to acquire Zubac. Aside from the No. 5 pick in the upcoming draft, the Clippers also received Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, a 2029 first-round pick, and a second-round pick in the exchange.
