Pacers trade Mathurin and Jackson to Clippers for Ivica Zubac and 3 draft picks

"This trade is extremely difficult for many reasons, but in order to achieve our ultimate goals as an organization, we felt we had to take advantage of the opportunity,” said Lawrence Frank, the Clippers' president of basketball operations.

Indiana gets one of the league's top defensive centers — and the post presence they've been seeking since longtime center Myles Turner surprised the Pacers by leaving for Central Division rival Milwaukee last summer in free agency.

One advantage is that Zubac, who turns 29 next month, is signed through the 2027-28 season, meaning he'll be around when two-time All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton returns from his torn Achilles tendon next season. Mathurin can become a restricted free agent this summer and it was unclear whether the Pacers could afford to re-sign their first-round draft pick from 2022.

Plus, Zubac was a second team all-defensive team selection last year and the Pacers now have nearly half of this season to see how he fits on a roster that won last season's Eastern Conference title and has most of its key players signed for multiple years.

“Zu is one of the best centers in the NBA, the longest-tenured player on the team and a pillar of everything we’ve done for the past seven years,” Frank said. “He is an elite rim protector and rebounder who made himself into an effective offensive threat, a tribute to his hard work. We will miss Zu as a player and a person.”

Zubac is averaging 14.4 points and 11.0 rebounds — numbers lower than last season's career highs — while shooting 61.3% from the field, making him an offensive upgrade over Jackson and Jay Huff, who struggled to replace Turner's productivity both offensively and defensively.

Zubac was the longest tenured active player on the Clippers. He missed Wednesday night's loss to Cleveland after his wife gave birth to the couple's first child.

In some ways, this deal is reminiscent of the move president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard made two years ago to get All-Star forward Pascal Siakam, which helped set up Indiana's successful postseason runs in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

But without Haliburton — and a series of debilitating injuries — the Pacers have struggled to the third worst record in the league, 13-38.

The Clippers, meanwhile, continue to stockpile draft picks as they overhaul their roster following the earlier deal that sent James Harden to Cleveland.

Mathurin recently returned from toe and thumb injuries that kept him out most of January, and he's been increasingly rounding into form. He's still averaging 17.8 points and 5.4 rebounds, mostly off the bench, this season and has improved significantly as a defender, too.

Jackson has started 14 times in 38 games played this season and is averaging 6.4 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 58.2% from the field. Like Mathurin, Jackson also was a first-round draft pick in 2021, No. 8 overall. And though Jackson had shown flashes of the player Indiana thought he could become, he lacked the consistency to win the starting job even after the loss of Turner.

But both could find more playing time in Los Angeles now, and that could help speed up the Clippers' overhaul.

In addition to Zubac, the Pacers also received Kobe Brown, a 6-foot-7 forward who is averaging 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 34 games this season. He's appeared in 118 games across three seasons since being drafted by the Clippers.

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds and AP Sports Writer Beth Harris in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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