Indiana Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan spoke out about his plans should the team lose its draft pick.
The Indiana Pacers are anxiously awaiting the NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday. A lot is riding on ping pong balls for the franchise.
Ahead of the 2025-26 NBA trade deadline, the Pacers pulled off a big trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. They acquired star center Ivica Zubac from L.A. in exchange for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, and a draft pick.
Yes, that draft pick could end up being Indiana's first-round pick this year.
After finishing the season with a 19-63 record, the Pacers are tied for the best odds to win the No. 1 overall pick. They are currently slotted in at No. 2 in the lottery.
Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan did place protections on their pick. They have a top-four protection on the selection. Should the pick drop to No. 5 or No. 6, the Clippers would then get the draft pick.
On the other hand, if the Pacers hold onto the pick, they would instead send a 2031 first-round pick to Los Angeles.
With that being said, Buchanan, Indiana's general manager, has spoken out about his plans if the team does end up losing the pick to the Clippers.
“Should we lose the pick, there’s other opportunities to improve our team through free agency,” Buchanan said.
“We still have trades. We gain a pick that we can use in the future for a trade. We feel like there’s a way to improve our team either way with the ping-pong balls, however they fall for us. We’re not putting all our eggs into one basket that, ‘Hey, if we don’t keep this pick, it’s doom and gloom,’ because it’s not."
At the end of the day, the Pacers are not far away from being a championship team. Last season, they took the Oklahoma City Thunder to Game 7 of the NBA Finals before seeing superstar point guard Tyrese Haliburton go down with a torn Achilles.
Haliburton will be making his return to the court for the 2026-27 season. With the right moves, Indiana might just find itself back in the NBA Finals.
Of course, a top-four pick would certainly help that cause. But, in the event the Pacers lose the selection, there are plans in place to make other moves to improve the roster.