Clippers unload Zubac for a young haul, pivoting dramatically toward a future built on draft picks and exciting prospects like Mathurin.
The Los Angeles Clippers continued their fire sale at the trade deadline on Thursday by sending starting center Ivica Zubac and guard Kobe Brown to the Indiana Pacers.
The deal brings back a huge haul for Los Angeles, as the Clippers received Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks and one second-round pick in return.
Just days after trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland, the Clippers have now moved their second and third-best players in the span of a week.
A Pivot Toward the Future
The timing of the trade is what makes it so surprising.
The Clippers (23-27) had rattled off a 16-3 stretch after starting the season 6-21, and it looked like they were ready to make a push for the play-in tournament in the Western Conference.
But the front office clearly saw the bigger picture and decided this team was not built to win a title, so they chose to get younger and build for what comes next.
The Clippers had previously indicated they would keep their Big Three of Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Zubac together, which makes the pivot even more shocking.
With the oldest roster in the NBA this season and six core players aged 31 or older, Los Angeles is now signaling that the future matters more than a possible first-round exit in the playoffs.
Zubac was the longest-tenured Clipper on the roster, having joined the team back in 2019 after being traded from the cross-town rival Los Angeles Lakers.
He was averaging 14.4 points and 11.0 rebounds on 61 percent shooting this season while coming off a career year in 2024-25, when he put up 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds per game and earned NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors.
What the Clippers Got Back
The centerpiece of the return is Bennedict Mathurin, the 23-year-old wing who has been putting up 17.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game on 43 percent shooting this season in 28 games with Indiana.
Mathurin was the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and brings the kind of young, scoring talent that Los Angeles badly needs as it transitions to a new era.
He is a restricted free agent this summer, which gives the Clippers the option to match any offer he receives.
Isaiah Jackson adds another young piece to the mix, and the draft capital sweetens the deal even further.
The Clippers are getting Indiana's 2026 first-round pick, which is protected from picks 1-4 and 10-30, meaning it only goes to Los Angeles if it falls between the fifth and ninth pick.
If it does not land in that range, it turns into an unprotected 2031 Pacers first-rounder.
On top of that, the Clippers also get Indiana's unprotected 2029 first-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick from Dallas.
With the Pacers sitting at 13-38, the worst record in the Eastern Conference, there is roughly a 50-50 chance that 2026 pick lands in the 5-9 range of what is considered a very strong draft class.
What Comes Next for Los Angeles
All eyes now turn to Leonard and what his future looks like.
The 34-year-old superstar is still putting up 27.6 points per game this season and will be an All-Star when the Clippers host the game at Intuit Dome next weekend, but with Harden and Zubac both gone, the roster around him looks very different.
Between Garland and Mathurin, though, the Clippers now have two young and talented guards who can score and create for others, and that is a solid foundation to build around moving forward.
The Clippers are clearly playing the long game now, and this trade could end up being the move that jumpstarts a new chapter in Los Angeles.