The 13-win Indiana Pacers have the second-worst record in the NBA. This has been a lost season for a team without its centerpiece, two-time All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton, of course, won’t play the rest of the way, as he’s still recovering from his Achilles tear that spoiled the Pacers’ championship bid in Game 7 of last year’s NBA Finals.
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With a top-three pick on the horizon, it’s no surprise Indiana’s in no rush for newly acquired big man Ivica Zubac to make his Pacers debut.
Head coach Rick Carlisle told Indianapolis’ 1075 the Fan on Tuesday that the former Los Angeles Clippers center won’t play in Indiana’s two remaining games before the All-Star break — road contests against the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively — and it could be even longer before he returns to the court.
«I don’t think he’s going to play for a while. He’s got a lingering ankle situation,» Carlisle said, via 1075 the Fan, alluding to a left ankle sprain that the 7-footer sustained during a Dec. 20 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Zubac, who spent the first nine-plus seasons of his career in L.A. — first with the Lakers after being picked in the second round of the 2016 draft and then with the Clippers after being traded midseason in 2018-19 — expedited his return to the Clippers’ lineup this winter. In fact, despite what Carlisle described as an injury that was deemed to require a four-to-six week recovery, Zubac missed only five games prior to making his way back to the floor for a Clippers squad that was just starting to find a groove after beginning the 2025-26 campaign 6-21.
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«This is a guy that’s played 95% of his games since he’s been in the NBA, and he pushed to come back early,» Carlisle said, via 1075 the Fan. «And so there’s just something in there still. There’s some discomfort. There’s some swelling.
«You admire the guy for slugging through, but, at this point, it makes zero sense for him to be out on the floor in an NBA game if he’s not feeling as close to 100% as possible. So I don’t know the timetable. He will not play in these two games, and we’ll see what’s what when we come out of the break.»
Zubac is averaging 14.4 points and 11 rebounds per game this season. He’s shooting 61.3% from the field, he’s got 24 double-doubles to his name and he’s a reigning NBA All-Defensive second teamer.
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Carlisle considers the 28-year-old Zubac a top-10 center in the league right now. He also puts former longtime Pacers big man Myles Turner in the same category.
Turner surprisingly left Indiana to sign with the rival Milwaukee Bucks this past offseason.
«Myles was terrific, and Myles could do a lot of things,» Carlisle said Tuesday on 1075 the Fan. «Myles could pick and pop. Myles became a very good roller. Myles had a big body, all that kind of stuff.
«Zubac, the element that he brings, he’s bigger than Myles, a little longer, I think. His game is more around the basket with brute force and strength and skill. And look, our game’s going to look different with him out there than it did with Myles.»
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Carlisle discussed the importance of having the kind of size that Zubac offers in today’s NBA, which he said is predicated on more than just speed.
Zubac is one of the league’s best rebounders. He’s also a renowned screener.
Paired with four-time All-Star forward Pascal Siakam, Zubac could help the Pacers establish some dominance on the glass.
When Haliburton finally comes back, he and Zubac will surely connect on lobs, too.
Indiana gave up wing Bennedict Mathurin, forward Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks and one second-round pick for Zubac and forward Kobe Brown.
Both teams made the trade with the future in mind. The Pacers will take their time with Zubac and his ankle injury.
