Why Ivica Zubac Changes Everything for the Pacers

INDIANAPOLIS — Forty-five minutes of basketball in a Pacers jersey was all it took for Ivica Zubac to alter the conversation about what this franchise can be. In back-to-back outings against Phoenix and New York, the 7-foot Croatian showed why team president Kevin Pritchard was willing to part with future draft capital to bring him to Indiana.

Start with the most basic act of selflessness: a screen. Zubac’s picks are equal parts roadblock and rib-cage rattler. Head coach Rick Carlisle laughed that defenders “drop like flies,” and the film backs up the gallows humor. Guards ricochet off his chest, wings hesitate, and suddenly the defense is forced into a switch it never wanted. Seated beside Zubac at the postgame podium, rookie Jarace Walker kept nodding when the subject came up, mouthing to reporters, “Best I’ve ever played with.”

The ripple effect is already visible in Indiana’s half-court playbook. For the first time in years, the Pacers are running offense through the low block. Zubac caught the ball on the left block against both the Suns and Knicks and immediately drew two bodies, sometimes a third shading over. The last time an Indiana center commanded that sort of respect? Try the ABA era, when Hall of Famer Mel Daniels was stockpiling rings.

Once the double arrives, Zubac’s passing acumen surfaces. He doesn’t just see the floor; he tilts it. A subtle dribble escape creates a passing lane, a shoulder dip freezes the help, and the ball is gone. Early versus New York he fired a one-handed bounce pass from the elbow to a back-cutting Aaron Nesmith, who slammed it over Mikal Bridges. Later he whipped a cross-court laser to Andrew Nembhard in the weak-side corner—an inch-perfect read that ended in a miss but drew oohs from the bench. The last Pacers big to make those reads with such frequency was Domantas Sabonis.

Zubac also revives a weapon Indiana hasn’t possessed since Ian Mahinmi: lob gravity. Against Phoenix he rolled hard, elevated, and finished above the rim in one motion, forcing the Suns’ weak-side tagger to abandon the corner shooter. The threat alone bends defenses in ways Myles Turner never could.

Then there is the rebounding. Zubac attacks the glass like a man reclaiming property. He moves bodies, seals space, and secures the ball with two hands amid a forest of forearms. Mitchell Robinson out-battled him on the offensive glass in the Knicks loss—Zubac admitted afterward that better work on the boards “probably wins us the game”—but even on an off night his physicality was unmistakable. The last Pacer to rebound with that level of force was Jeff Foster nearly two decades ago.

Offensively, Zubac is the rare star big who doesn’t hijack possessions. He scores within the flow—dump-offs, seals, second-chance put-backs—keeping the pace Indiana loves intact. Defensively, he compensates for average foot speed with anticipation and positioning, erasing shots at the rim without fouling. The combination gives Carlisle the flexibility to stay in drop coverage or blitz without bleeding points.

Remember, this is a player who had not seen game action in six weeks before the trade. Conditioning and timing will sharpen, and when they do, the All-Defensive pedigree that once put him on voters’ ballots should reappear. The only layer yet to unveil is outside shooting; every attempt so far has come inside eight feet. Yet whispers from the practice floor suggest the 3-ball could be part of the long-term package. If league-average range ever joins the toolbox, Indiana will have fused the playmaking of Sabonis, the rim protection of Turner, and the brute force of Foster into one 265-pound frame.

The tantalizing footnote: Zubac has yet to share the court with Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. Once that trio shares a scouting report, the Pacers believe the best basketball of Zubac’s career—and perhaps theirs—is still ahead.

Two games, 45 minutes, and one unmistakable conclusion: Ivica Zubac hasn’t merely filled a position. He has reframed the ceiling of what the blue and gold can become.