Pacers trade Bennedict Mathurin to Clippers for Ivica Zubac

Bennedict Mathurin (Google Images)

There were two significant NBA transactions on Thursday, the final day of the NBA trade deadline. One involved the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, and the other involved the Indiana Pacers and the Los Angeles Clippers.

In this transaction between the reigning Eastern Conference finalists, and a team that has been underachieving this season, the Clippers traded center Ivica Zubac of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina and power forward Kobe Brown of Huntsville, Alabama to the Pacers for Canadian small forward Bennedict Mathurin of Montreal, Quebec, center Isaiah Jackson of Pontiac, Michigan, a first round pick in 2026, a second round pick in 2028, and a first round pick in 2029 according to the Associated Press on Thursday.

It has been a solid season for Mathurin even though the Pacers are the worst team in the Eastern Conference at 13 wins and 38 losses for a winning percentage of .255. In his fourth season with the Pacers, Mathurin is averaging 17.8 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, and 2.3 assists per game. He had a field goal percentage of .433, three point percentage of .372 and a free throw percentage of .884.

Zubac has spent his entire NBA career playing for Los Angeles-based teams. He was with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2016 to 2019, and with the Los Angeles Clippers from 2019 to 2026. This season, Zubac is averaging a double-double, 14.4 points per game and 11 rebounds per game. He also is averaging 2.2 assists per game, with a field goal percentage of .613, three point percentage of zero (not attempted a shot from downtown) and a free throw percentage of .705. The Pacers have been looking for a player to play alongside Tyrese Haliburton for a while, and believe that Zubac brings a powerful presence to give Haliburton more space.