Pacers GM Says Ivica Zubac Must Adjust His Game to Indiana's Style

Five days before the Indiana Pacers open training camp, general manager Chad Buchanan said the team has told Ivica Zubac he needs to change parts of his game to fit the way Indiana plays. The comments came in video posted Thursday by Tyler Smith of Pacers on SI.

Indiana acquired Zubac and Kobe Brown from the LA Clippers on Feb. 5 for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks, and a 2028 second-round pick that originally belonged to the Dallas Mavericks. Zubac played five games for the Pacers. On March 20, the team announced a fractured rib would keep him out for the rest of the season.

Buchanan said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle and his staff have adapted to different types of players before, and that Indiana does not want to take away what Zubac already does well.

"I think it's more Zu adjusting to how we play, but also Rick's a brilliant coach," Buchanan said. "Our coaching staff has shown the ability to adapt to different types of players. He'll figure out how to maximize some of the things that maybe he does that is different than how we play."

"I think as a whole," Buchanan continued, "and we've communicated to Zu, and I think he understands after watching us play, playing against us and being around our team last year, he's got to kind of get himself in a different stylistic of playing a little bit. But we don't want to take away from what he does well."

"He's a physical presence on both ends of the floor," Buchanan added. "He's a great defensive rebounder. He's a great screen setter. And there's ways to acclimate those skills into our style of play."

Zubac averaged 14.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 48 games between Los Angeles and Indiana last season. He shot 59.8% from the field.

Those five games with the Pacers were all losses. He averaged 11.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 23.6 minutes. His Indiana debut came March 12 against the Phoenix Suns, and six days later he left a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter with a head contusion. He did not play again.

In 2024-25, Zubac made the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. At the time of the trade, ESPN cited GeniusIQ tracking showing he had set the third-most on-ball screens in the league since the start of that season.

On Feb. 22, Tony East of Forbes reported that Zubac had the lowest average speed of any Pacer. Indiana ranked third in the NBA in passes per game at that point. Los Angeles ranked 28th.

Indiana gets part of its pace from reversing the ball.

"He may not be the fastest runner north and south," Buchanan noted, "but that doesn't mean we can't still play fast and utilize him out there to play that way too, because I think sometimes we get caught up thinking playing fast means fast break all the time. And really our style of playing fast is making quick decisions with the ball. It's a lot of ball movements, a lot of reversing the ball, and that accelerates our pace. And Zu is a very good decision maker, so I think he'll fit in that regard."

Buchanan described the Pacers' pace in similar terms in July, telling Blue Wire's Setting The Pace podcast that playing fast means making quick decisions.

Zubac spent late August with Croatia in FIBA World Cup qualifying. He had 24 points and 11 rebounds in a 101-99 win over the Netherlands on Aug. 30.

Myles Turner, Indiana's starting center during the run to the 2025 NBA Finals, left for the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency the following summer. Tyrese Haliburton missed all of 2025-26 after tearing his Achilles tendon in Game 7 of those Finals. The Pacers finished 19-63, the fewest wins in franchise history.

The 2026 first-round pick in the Zubac deal landed fifth in the lottery, outside its top-four protection, and the Clippers used it on Keaton Wagler. The 2029 first-rounder no longer exists. The NBA stripped it from the Clippers as part of their penalty for violating salary cap circumvention rules.

HoopsHype has Zubac starting alongside Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Pascal Siakam in its projected Pacers rotation. Zubac, 29, is under contract through the 2027-28 season.

Indiana holds media day Monday and opens training camp Tuesday. The Pacers begin the regular season Oct. 21 at the New Orleans Pelicans at 8 p.m. ET.