Pacers' Ivica Zubac trade 1st-round pick backfired for Indiana, helped Clippers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The Indiana Pacers had a weird 2025-26 season, but they were clearly thinking toward next year with all their moves. They knew they wouldn't have superstar point guard Tyrese Haliburton, and so they basically had a one-year retool to undertake.They showed that when they traded for Ivica Zubac in the middle of the season but then shut him down quickly. They want Zubac to be Haliburton's buddy in the pick-and-roll next season.They also would've loved to have a high-ranking draft pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, which is loaded at the top.They tried to make sure that happened as part of the Zubac trade, which included a top-four protected 2026 first-round pick going back to the Los Angeles Clippers.MORE:Warriors' Steve Kerr news means it's time to talk about LeBron and StephTop-four protected means that as long as the Pacers were picking 1, 2, 3 or 4, they'd have that pick this season.As one of the bottom-three teams in the league, the Pacers couldn't drop below the fifth spot. They were safe in all but one scenario.That scenario happened.The pick ended up in the No. 5 spot in the lottery, so the Pacers don't keep it.The Clippers will pick in the fifth spot, a huge break for them.Indiana can still have a quality team next season, but it won't include a player like AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson or Caleb Wilson.It's a really unlucky break for the Pacers, who otherwise seemed to manage their retool year well. They just didn't have any lottery luck.More NBA news:Bronny James just did something Michael Jordan never didNBA playoffs block record gets confusion from Wilt Chamberlain, Bill RussellNFL legend tells Joel Embiid to 'stop being a' bad wordAnthony Davis is the magic touch for the No. 1 pickJaylen Brown blames the 'media' for a problem he created himself