The Indiana Pacers have work to do this summer.
The Indiana Pacers' biggest needs this offseason were put on notice by NBA analyst Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report.
Bailey believes the Pacers need time, frontcourt depth and a bench scorer.
Indiana is more than $30 million above the cap and doesn't have a first-round pick in this year's draft. The Pacers needed to land in the top four to keep their pick after trading it, along with protections, to the Los Angeles Clippers for Ivica Zubac. The trade sent two of Indiana's first-round picks to the Clippers: one in 2029 and either this year's first if it fell outside of the top four or a 2031 unprotected first-rounder if it did not.
Because the Washington Wizards moved up in the lottery, Indiana landed fifth, so the pick went to the Clippers instead.
The Pacers could have drafted AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer or Caleb Wilson. Instead, they have to pray that Zubac plays like an All-Star next season alongside Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton.
Zubac played in just five games with Indiana, averaging 11.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest while shooting 47.2% from the field and 80.% from the free-throw line. Zubac has played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers and Pacers. He enters next season with career averages of 10.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
The Pacers had the league's second-worst record this season at 19-63. Haliburton missed the season recovering from his Achilles tear. He will return to the lineup next season, so Indiana will be a playoff team again, but it hurts that the franchise won't get one of the top college players.
"I mean, it was a coin toss," Haliburton said on Amazon Prime. "I mean, the way I'm looking at the last 12 months for me, dating back from June, I didn't think we were really due any luck. You know, it's been a rough 12 months for me. KP didn't have to apologize. They took a calculated risk. I'm still rolling with the decision and I'm excited to add Zu to the crew and I still think we'll be really good beside him. It's how the cookie crumbles sometimes and I'm still really excited about our group."
As it stands now, the Pacers are narrowly below the luxury tax line of $201 million in 2026-27 salary, which means they have access to the $15.1 midlevel exception.
Nine Pacers players are eligible for extensions this offseason and the unrestricted free agency class isn't that deep.
With that said, Indiana's roster will look very similar next season unless LeBron James shocks the world and signs with the Pacers. James is the biggest unrestricted free agent this summer.
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