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2026 is clearly not the year of the Indiana Pacers. They could not be competitive without Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam did not prove to be enough to uplift them. A squad that had just reached a Game 7 in the NBA Finals is now holding out for hope. The NBA Draft Lottery could have saved them, instead their pick went to the Los Angeles Clippers because of the Ivica Zubac trade. President Kevin Pritchard saw all of this and could not help but apologize to their fans.
Pacers president apologizes to fans after NBA Draft Lottery mishap
See, the Pacers only won 19 games for the 2025-26 season, which was the second-worst record in the league. This meant that they had high hopes of notching a top pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. If things went well, they would have gotten Tyrese Haliburton back to lead a squad that featured Ivica Zubac and Pascal Siakam. One of either AJ Dybantsa, Darius Acuff, Caleb Wilson, Cameron Boozer, and Darryn Peterson would have done wonders for their franchise.
Instead, they have to face a gruesome reality. The Pacers had a 52.1% chance of landing a pick within the top four of the NBA Draft. They got called as the fifth pick which was such a sad mortgage of their future. This meant that the Clippers got to keep their pick because the protection ranged from picks five to nine due to the Zubac trade. They also traded their second-round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies a while back.
President Kevin Pritchard saw all of this unfold in the NBA Draft Lottery and apologized to the Pacers fans, via X.
"I'm really sorry to all our fans. I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck. But please remember - this team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year. We have always been resilient," the Pacers president said.
There is still hope for the Pacers front office. They could conduct a swap of one of their future picks for a chance to land a rookie in 2026. But, this will be a hard pursuit for Pritchard and Co. given that all teams in the league will have a big asking price knowing that the Pacers do not have a pick in the NBA Draft.
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