The Indiana Pacers were arguably the biggest loser of the NBA draft lottery on Sunday, and the internet took delight in their plight.
The Pacers lost their pick to the Los Angeles Clippers after landing at No. 5 in the lottery, even though they posted the second-worst record in the NBA last season. The Pacers traded that pick to the Clippers at the trade deadline for Ivica Zubac and gambled on their lottery luck by making the pick top-4 protected.
When the Pacers lost that gamble, nobody felt too sorry for them. Between what was perceived as blatant tanking and the underwhelming trade they made, everyone just wanted to laugh at them.
pacers did all that tanking for “zubac” pic.twitter.com/DgXTgot327
— ✋🏾 (@fox5drak) May 10, 2026
The Pacers really had the worst season in their franchise history and risked a 48% chance of losing their draft pick for for Ivica Zubac
— Keith Black Trudeau (@Charlottean28) May 10, 2026
I can’t begin to justify that. This wasn’t even a really unlucky outcome. It was basically a coin flip.
Pacers really traded a top pick in this generational draft for “ivica zubac” pic.twitter.com/nRDnf2xo4i
— Freeze (@freezesports1) May 10, 2026
Pacers really lost a top 5 pick in the deepest draft in 30 years for Zubac.
— Ben Yoel (@Ben_Yoel) May 10, 2026
Yikes.
If I were a Pacers fan and my team traded away a top 5 pick for Ivica Zubac in the middle of a tanking season I would be beyond devastated.
— Aaron Johnson (@AJohnsonNBA) May 10, 2026
The good news for the Pacers is that they will have Tyrese Haliburton back next season, which should make them competitive again. They surely hoped that they would be pairing him with a young star, however.
It’s worth remembering that the Pacers were one of the teams fined for tanking during the season, and their team president openly mused about tanking on social media. The NBA probably won’t hate this outcome, especially since the Pacers can only blame themselves for making that trade to begin with.
