Which direction do the Clippers pivot to?
The Los Angeles Clippers walked into Sunday's NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago needing help from the ping pong balls.
Their first-round pick was hooked into a deal from February, and the only way it conveyed this year was if Indiana fell to No. 5 or No. 6. Indiana fell.
The pick is now sitting at No. 5, and Lawrence Frank suddenly has a lot more to think about as the franchise tries to retool around Kawhi Leonard and Darius Garland before the June 23 draft.
The Pacers, who finished 19-63 after losing Tyrese Haliburton to an Achilles injury, had a 14 percent chance of grabbing the top pick and roughly 52 percent odds of staying in the top four.
They missed.
The pick conveys to Los Angeles, which limped to a 42-40 regular season before losing in the Play-In Tournament.
The Full Zubac Trade Looks Like a Heist Now
Back on February 5, the Clippers shipped center Ivica Zubac and forward Kobe Brown to Indiana.
Coming back the other way was guard Bennedict Mathurin, big man Isaiah Jackson, a 2028 second-rounder, an unprotected 2029 first, and the 2026 pick that just landed at five.
That 2026 selection was protected one through four and ten through thirty, so it only made it to Los Angeles if Indiana wound up at five through nine.
The needle threaded.
Zubac is no slouch, and that's definitely worth saying.
The All-Defensive Second Team center had been averaging 14.4 points and 11 boards for the Clippers before the trade, then played just five games in Indiana before a fractured rib ended his season.
The Pacers gave up a haul, and they got five games of basketball for it.
Why Sunday Was So Big
Scouts have been calling this one of the deepest drafts in years.
AJ Dybantsa is heading to Washington at No. 1, with Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson expected to come off the board in some order behind him.
That gives the Clippers a real shot at a prospect like Houston guard Kingston Flemings or Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr., the type of player Los Angeles has not had a chance at in a long time.
Pacers president Kevin Pritchard apologized to fans on social media after the lottery, calling it a risk he owns.
That has not made the Clippers feel any worse.
What Lawrence Frank Can Actually Do
Frank has options now.
He can keep the pick and pair a young player with Garland, who put up 19.9 points and 6.4 assists over his 19 games in Los Angeles after the James Harden trade with Cleveland.
He can package the pick in a swing for someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo if Milwaukee finally cracks the door open this summer.
There is a middle road too.
Find a rookie like Philadelphia's VJ Edgecombe who can play right away, keep Kawhi happy, and still have something left over when the next chapter starts.
With Leonard turning 35 in late June and entering the last year of his $50.3 million deal, the next few weeks will say a lot about where the Clippers think they are.