Clippers' Ivica Zubac Trade Is a Big Mistake

The Los Angeles Clippers traded center Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers just before the NBA trade deadline on Thursday, a surprising move that could very well have ripple effects for the Clippers over the rest of this season.

The full trade, per ESPN's Shams Charania, is Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown heading East to Indiana in exchange for guard Bennedict Mathurin, big man Isaiah Jackson, two first round picks and a second round pick.

It's definitely hard to justify this trade from the Clippers' point of view.

The team was already thin on big men behind Zubac, and they just traded a star big and didn't get any back in return.

Clippers May Regret Trading Ivica Zubac at the Deadline

Mathurin is the headliner of the players coming back to the Clippers in this deal, as he's been a consistent scorer both off the bench and as a starter for Indiana. Mathurin has done well to help replace star point guard Tyrese Haliburton this season, after he suffered a torn Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last season, and his defense will be a solid addition to the Clippers.

With that said, the addition of Isaiah Jackson doesn't inspire much confidence, especially since Zubac is on his way out. Jackson is not a direct replacement for Zubac, and with Brown out as well, the Clippers' center rotation figures to be Brook Lopez and rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser.

The Clippers' moves this week signal a sharp change of direction for the franchise as two of their Big Three" have been part of trades over the past 48 hours, and trading Zubac is very questionable especially as far as this season is concerned.

Trading for Darius Garland was a net positive move, but him and Zubac would have been great in the pick-and-roll, given Garland's success with Jarrett Allen in Cleveland.

Now, the Clippers' offense figures to be a lot more backcourt dominant. Garland can certainly lead the offense as he was able to do at times when Donovan Mitchell was not on the floor with him in Cleveland, but it puts a lot more pressure on Kawhi Leonard, Jordan Miller, Kobe Sanders, and Bogdan Bogdanovic to produce.

Leonard can certainly do that - the 2026 All Star selection is averaging a career high 27.6 points per game - and while Miller and Sanders have done well when given the opportunity, putting that much of an increased role on them may not work out well for the Clippers in the final stretch of the season.

It's been a difficult season for Bogdanovic as the three-point specialist has faced injury troubles and seen himself a focus of trade rumors, but now that the veteran is back on the floor, he'll need to play a bigger role. He's succeeded in the past at that, notably over his four-plus year run with the Atlanta Hawks, but it remains to be seen whether that's in the cards for him this year. Given this deal, it simply has to be if the Clippers hope to maintain the momentum they've built over the past month and a half.

The trade of Zubac, who was under contract for the next two seasons, is a unnecessary roll of the dice, one that the Clippers front office will have to hope works out in their favor.

Read More About the LA Clippers:

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• Clippers Send Ivica Zubac to Pacers in Shocking Trade Deadline Move
• Clippers Have an Ivica Zubac Decision to Make With Trade Buzz Getting Louder
• Lawrence Frank Makes First Remarks After James Harden-Darius Garland Swap