The Clippers emerged from their most significant NBA draft lottery in eight years on Sunday with their highest pick in 17 years when they landed the No. 5 overall selection via their midseason trade with the Indiana Pacers.
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The Clippers took a chance at a potentially high draft choice when they sent center Ivica Zubac to the Pacers at the trade deadline in February, with part of the compensation tied to Indiana’s lottery finish. That gamble paid off when the Pacers, who had a 52.1% chance of landing a top-four pick, saw the pick fall into the unprotected 5-9 range, giving the Clippers their highest pick since 2009 when they selected Blake Griffin at No. 1.
This year’s draft opportunity was created when the Clippers acquired Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, the protected 2026 first-round pick, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick from the Pacers in exchange for Zubac and forward Kobe Brown. The 2026 pick was protected if it landed in positions 1-4 or 10-30, meaning the Clippers would only receive it if it fell between Nos. 5-9.
Had the Pacers retained this year’s pick, they would have sent the Clippers their unprotected 2031 first-round pick instead.
The Pacers finished 19-63 this season, the second-worst record in the NBA, and had a 14% chance to secure the No. 1 overall pick, but the chance of it being among the top four was nearly a coin toss, and it worked out for the Clippers.
Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard, whose team will have injured star Tyrese Haliburton back on the court next season after he missed all of 2025-26 with a torn Achilles tendon, took to social media to address a fan base that is surely frustrated that a season full of losing didn’t net a high draft choice.
“I’m really sorry to all our fans,” Pritchard posted on X on Sunday, a short time after Indiana received the bad news at the annual draft lottery in Chicago. “I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck. But please remember – this team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year. We have always been resilient.”
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For the Clippers, a high pick allows them to land a potential franchise-changing prospect that they could add to a young corps they began to lean on last winter after they traded Zubac and 11-time All-Star guard James Harden (to the Cleveland Cavaliers) in separate deals.
This year’s draft class is considered the deepest in 30 years, led by 6-foot-9 BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, 6-6 Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, 6-9 Duke forward Cameron Boozer, and 6-10 North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson, plus a promising group of point guards behind them (Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Houston’s Kingston Flemings, Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. and Illinois’ Keaton Wagler) behind them.
The Washington Wizards own the No. 1 pick in the draft, followed by the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls. After the Clippers at No. 5, the Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks round out the top 10. The Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder (via the Clippers as part of the 2019 Paul George trade), Miami Heat, and Charlotte Hornets round out the lottery picks.
In 2018, the Clippers had two first-round picks, selecting Miles Bridges of Michigan State and Jerome Robinson of Boston College at Nos. 12 and 13.
This year’s draft will be held June 23 and 24 at Barclays Center in New York. The draft combine in Chicago starts on Monday.
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