{"id":1928264,"date":"2026-05-10T22:03:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T19:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1928264"},"modified":"2026-05-10T22:03:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T19:03:03","slug":"pacers-kevin-pritchard-apologizes-to-fans-for-draft-lottery-gamble-gone-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1928264","title":{"rendered":"Pacers\u2019 Kevin Pritchard apologizes to fans for draft lottery gamble gone wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard knew the risk of what he was doing.<\/p>\n

He knew the gamble when he traded his 2026 first-round selection, with conditions, among other picks and players, to the LA Clippers in a deal centered around big man Ivica Zubac in February. The first-round pick had stipulations that, if it landed between No. 5 and No. 9 in the NBA Draft Lottery, it would go to the Clippers.<\/p>\n

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On Sunday, Lady Luck abandoned Indiana, and the pick landed at No. 5 \u2014 and in LA\u2019s possession.\u00a0Pritchard felt compelled to go to X to offer his apologies for his gamble gone wrong.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m really sorry to all our fans,\u201d Pritchard wrote. \u201cI own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pacers finished the season 19-63 and entered Sunday\u2019s lottery with one of the league\u2019s three worst records and a 14 percent chance at the No. 1 pick. There was about a 48 percent chance the pick would land fifth or sixth, and the Pacers had a 52.1 percent chance of the pick landing in the top four.<\/p>\n

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{“endpoint”:”https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql”}<\/p>\n

With star point guard Tyrese Haliburton tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and missing the entire season, the Pacers barely got out of the starting blocks. They opened the season 1-13 and at one point endured a 13-game losing streak.<\/p>\n

By the February trade deadline, Pritchard was ready to make a move. The full trade saw the Clippers send Zubac and guard Kobe Brown to Indiana in exchange for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks and one second-round pick.<\/p>\n

The Clippers won the gamble on Indiana\u2019s 2026 pick and also own the Pacers\u2019 2029 first-round selection. Zubac, 29, played only five games this season for Indiana after suffering a fractured rib and a head contusion in March. Pritchard maintains Zubac\u2019s services were necessary, not just for this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut please remember, this team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe have always been resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Clippers\u2019 own first-round pick is heading to the Oklahoma City Thunder thanks to the 2019 Paul George trade. That pick ultimately slotted in at No. 12.<\/p>\n

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Next year, the Pacers are expected to return a healthy core centered around Haliburton, Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard. Adding a healthy Zubac to the mix will only increase the team\u2019s potency in the eyes of Pritchard, who said he is willing to live with losing that gamble.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m OK with that,\u201d Pritchard told reporters after the lottery in Chicago. \u201cIn life \u2014 I guess this gets a little philosophical \u2014 but I never feel like you can slow-play your way into success in this league. You have to swing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, today it stings, but wait until next season. Let\u2019s give this group an opportunity to go compete for a championship, because they\u2019ve proven they can do it. And we\u2019ve added a really good center in (Zubac).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 James Boyd contributed to this story.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard knew the risk of what he was doing. He knew the gamble when he traded his 2026 first-round selection, with conditions, among other picks and players, to the LA Clippers in a deal centered around big man Ivica Zubac in February. The first-round pick had stipulations that, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1928264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1928264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1928264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1928264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1928264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}