The Clippers have acquired high-scoring wing Bennedict Mathurin, center Isaiah Jackson and two draft picks from the Indiana Pacers for center Ivica Zubac, a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said Thursday.
Los Angeles will receive Indiana’s protected 2026 first-round draft pick and a 2029 first-round pick. This year’s selection is protected if the Pacers have a top four selection or if it falls between selections 10 and 30.
Mathurin, 23, was set to become a restricted free agent next summer, and it wasn’t clear if the Pacers could afford to keep him. He recently returned from toe and thumb injuries that kept him out for most of January. He’s averaging 17.8 points and 5.4 rebounds this season and has improved significantly as a defender during his fourth season.
Jackson has started 14 times in 38 games this season and is averaging 6.4 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 58.2% from the field. He also was a first-round draft pick, in 2021 at 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.
The move comes just days after the Clippers also traded James Harden to Cleveland for Darius Garland in a swap of point guard and adds more draft picks to Los Angeles’ growing stockpile of selections.
The Pacers get the center they’ve needed since losing Myles Turner in free agency last summer. Zubac, who will turn 29 next month, was an All-Defensive second-team team selection last year. He’s averaging 14.4 points and 11.0 rebounds while shooting 61.3% from the field.
Zubac 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.
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