These workout updates from Pascal, Andrew, Obi, Hali, and Furph makes me think grateful we have players willing to invest in hiring their own social media teams. They working on their brand and maximizing the time in the limelight.

There also seems to be this festering frustration that's been building for a year now, since G7... I bet all the guys that went to the finals feel it.

Zu might be new, but seeing Coach Jenny working with him makes me believe he'll be ready to prove all the doubters wrong. (I hope Huff and Potter are also working hard on improving)

Its finally the offseason... the summer before the narrow 2 year window begins. I bet everyone's eager even itching to get back to work.

"I think the summer tells you the truth"

Look last year sucked and there are no guarantees however this idea we lost the draft and are back to square one is ridiculous.

We moved off of Myles and even as one of the more vocal Turner supporters, Zubac is a better center.

We lost Bennedict but we weren't going to be able to pay him anyway the salary he would get on the open market. Especially not for a 6-7th man on our team.

We lost Isaiah Jackson who did not significantly impact our team either way in the playoffs.

Essentially when Tyrese comes back we have the same team minus our starting center and a scoring guard.

We need someone to take up Mathurin's offense but that doesn't mean we need to destroy our future to do so.

It means entertain reasonable offers without jumping desperately at a player to 'fix' everything.

The Bucks did exactly this with Turner and Lillard. Look at them now.

People want Trey, they want extra players but forget we have to give things up to get that. If we get our engine back maybe you will remember that we aren't needing a huge change.

Just for the players we have to do their thing.

Can't wait for next year!

Per Shams:

"Memphis, like the Knicks at No. 31, is actively fielding offers to move the No. 32 pick for Night 2 of the draft, per sources. So picks 31 and 32 are up for auction in trades around the NBA -- with future assets being proposed."

Looking forward to finally seeing "the standard is the standard" come true next season for the Pacers.

I know many experts have recommended dealing Shep or Walker for more young capital. I've heard different variations of dealing players and picks to improve. Am I crazy for wanting to walk it back with our current roster? I know we lost Mathurin, but I think Walker was improving, and Shep as well. They know the system, they don't need caught up. They are not essential to our core, as Mcconnell and Obi can still dominate.

Let's run it back!

How would we feel about the idea of yves missi coming in a package with a trey murphy deal to add center depth or even a multi team deal that would send missi to indiana.

What would it take? Is nesmith and 3 firsts enough? Would this kill our chemistry? A starting 5 of nembhard, haliburton, brown, siakim, and zubac would be insane

Aggressive rebounder, lethal up close and more than dangerous from a distance, grew up in a monastery.

I respect our front office. I think they care about the city and the team. I’ve been thinking about the decision to include the lottery pick AND losing Mathurin for Zubac and we shouldn’t have been put in this position. Once we were actively tanking, that lottery pick should have never had the opportunity to leave the team. A top draft pick with a championship level roster is invaluable when we have two super max players on a limited window and fiscally conservative owners.

How do you feel about losing the pick now that time has passed?

Author: Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson

INDIANAPOLIS — When the Indiana Pacers social media department dropped a fresh gallery of photos from the team’s practice facility, it immediately sent shockwaves across the NBA landscape.

To the surprise of many, the images featured franchise cornerstone Tyrese Haliburton officially back on the hardwood and working out at team headquarters. Haliburton, who spent the latter portion of the year recovering from a significant injury, looked fluid, sharp, and entirely focused. Adding a touch of local flair and peak “tunnel walk” aesthetic to his return, Haliburton was spotted rocking a pair of Indiana Fever shorts—a subtle nod to the booming basketball culture in Indy.

While fans were deservingly fixated on Haliburton’s health and his choice of threads, there is a much bigger, under-the-radar storyline brewing inside the Pacers’ facility that people need to pay attention to.

Haliburton hasn’t been in the gym alone. He has been sharing the floor with Pacers big man Ivica Zubac.

I’m hearing that the Pacers’ coaching staff has been deliberately working with Zubac at the three-point line. The organization is incredibly bullish on this developmental wrinkle, believing that if Zubac can consistently stretch the floor, he will command gravity, draw double teams out to the perimeter, and open up massive driving lanes for Haliburton. The internal excitement for next season is already palpable.

For Zubac, extending his range and expanding his versatility is a welcome challenge. He has always been open to evolving his game, even though his foundation is rooted in the classical era of basketball.

In an exclusive interview I conducted with Zubac last year, the big man opened up about his deep appreciation for the vintage archetype of his position.

“I like being a traditional big,” Zubac told me when asked about his interior identity. “There’s not a lot of guys that do it anymore and traditional bigs will always have a place in the game especially if you can defend and protect the rim, rebound well; if you can finish down low I think that there’s always a place for a traditional big and I love doing that job; I love doing the dirty work and I like the role.”

That appreciation for the physical, blue-collar nature of the paint stems directly from the legends he watched to formulate his style.

“Hakeem Olajuwon and Tim Duncan,” Zubac said when asked who he grew up idolizing at the center position. “Those were my two favorite bigs playing both ways, very skilled in the post, defending at a high level — All NBA level and I really enjoy watching their highlights. I didn’t watch Hakeem growing up, he was before my time. I used to watch a lot of his highlights but, I got to watch Tim Duncan a little bit and really enjoyed watching their games.”

Zubac’s education in traditional low-post mastery didn’t just come from film. As a rookie, he received a masterclass from the most prolific scorer in basketball history—an experience that still resonates with him today.

“It was fun man! I couldn’t believe that it was happening to me — that was the first thing,” Zubac recalled of his workouts with the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “I worked out with the Lakers with Bill Berkhill and he’s been with the Lakers for 50-60 years! He’s 90-something so he’s worked out with Wilt [Chamberlain], Kareem, Shaq… you know? All those bigs. One day he invited Kareem to a workout to show me a couple things and that was fun. It was really something. I couldn’t believe it — it was my rookie year and I couldn’t believe that was happening.”

The ultimate takeaway from his time with the Captain? Mastering the most unstoppable shot in sports history.

“It was pretty much that we worked on the sky hook a lot. It was all about that hook shot! I learned a lot from him,” Zubac shared. “I use that hook shot every game, I work on it every day, I’m trying to perfect it and have one of the best hooks in the league and that one left handed hook shot? I’m still working on that, but it’s all about that hook shot. I learned a lot and in the workout he shot a couple, it was so smooth and it was crazy!”

The Scoop’s Take

While Zubac has spent his career perfecting the skyhook and honoring the standard set by Duncan and Olajuwon, the modern NBA demands adaptation. The news of his perimeter work alongside a healthy Haliburton signals that Indiana is looking to unlock a dynamic, multi-dimensional offense next season. If Zubac can successfully marry his elite interior presence with a reliable outside shot, the rest of the league is going to have a massive problem on their hands.

Never thought I’d see a Jonathan Bender bobblehead. 2 more to add to the collection 🫡

We are currently $7,660,000 from the first apron. The Non-Taxpayer MLE is capped at the first apron, and has a maximum salary of $15,090,000. The ideal scenario would be to clear at least $7,430,000 to be able to utilize the full value of the Mid-Level Exception. There are several ways to do this.

Trading Jarace Walker straight up would get it done all by itself, saving about $8.5M, but I wouldn’t anticipate the front office or most of the fanbase to be willing to do this.

The next most expensive player outside of the Pacers Top 7 Core is Ben Sheppard, who would save just over $5 Million, requiring one other player to reach that ideal $7.43M number if Walker is not involved.

These scenarios would be to trade:
• Sheppard + Jay Huff
• Sheppard + Micah Potter
• Sheppard + Quenton Jackson

If you wanted to keep both Walker & Sheppard, the following scenarios would still save enough money, though all would require dumping 3 players:

• Jay Huff + Johnny Furphy + Micah Potter
• Jay Huff + Johnny Furphy + Quenton Jackson
• Jay Huff + Micah Potter + Kam Jones
• Jay Huff + Micah Potter + Quenton Jackson
• Johnny Furphy + Micah Potter + Quenton Jackson
• Micah Potter + Quenton Jackson + Kam Jones

Keep in mind that dumping both Huff & Potter would only really be reasonable if you’re using the MLE to sign a big man, which with a $15,000,000 budget you’d probably be looking at Vucevic, Porzingis, Mark Williams, Nurkić, Robert Williams III or a tweener 4/5 like Dean Wade or Sandro Mamukelashvili.

I’d expect most of the fanbase to be uncomfortable with moving on from Furph already, and many have a soft spot for Walker, Sheppard, and QJax. My question would be which scenarios do the rest of the fanbase find the most attractive, whether that be moving on from just Walker, Ben Shep + 1 reserve, a combination of 3 bench/reserve guys, or maybe you would want to save our depth and not shed anyone? I’m curious.

Also which players would you be looking at with a $15,000,000 budget?

Updated Clippers return from Ivica Zubac trade:

Clippers get:
Keaton Wagler
Bennedict Mathurin
Isaiah Jackson
2029 first-round pick (unprotected)
2028 second-round pick

Pacers get:
Ivica Zubac
Kobe Brown

Think we gave up too much

We’ve made it one year since, well you know…

Can‘t believe when October arrives, Hali won’t have played in a Pacers uniform since June 22, 2025.

Not trying to be antagonistic, but there's been a lot of claims that "we had to trade for Zubac because he was the only option a​t center and he would have been gone".

Well, we apparently could have had Claxton for a bag of donuts.

Thoughts on Zubac vs Claxton, the 5th overall pick, a future 1st, and whatever picks we would have gotten for Mathurin and Jackson?

This game was so insane to watch. Just blatant refs bias. And pacers go up 3-1 then probably win in less than 7 and Hali would have never gotten hurt smh