Portland Trail Blazers interim coach Kevin Pritchard watches from the sideline during the game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on March 21, 20005. The Clippers defeated the Trail Blazers 96-89. (Photo by Kirby Lee/WireImage)
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CHICAGO – The Indiana Pacers don’t have a single pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. They traded away their first-round selection back in February, officially losing it during this month’s NBA Draft Lottery. Their second rounder is owned by the Memphis Grizzlies thanks to a string of transactions that started back in 2021. That leaves the Pacers as one of two teams (Portland Trail Blazers) without a selection in the coming draft as of now.
The Pacers would have loved to get a top-four pick in the 2026 draft. It is considered a strong group of prospects at the top. But they lost the pick, sending it to the Los Angeles Clippers in a trade to acquire Ivica Zubac, and now have to pivot. One way they can do so is trading other draft picks.
They have more available now despite losing their pick this year. President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard hinted at this when speaking to reporters just after his franchise was hit with poor lottery luck.
“We have some flexibility. We have five of our next six years [of first-round draft picks],” Pritchard said. “Some of those trades where it’s four and five and six picks, they’re out. They’re done. They’ve shoved their chips in and they’re done. And we’ve got a full slate, five out of six.”
What can the Pacers do with their future first-round picks now?
Teams are able to trade first-round picks that are as far out as seven drafts away. Right now, the 2026 draft is included in that calculation, though it won’t be the instant that draft ends. So after the Pacers’ lottery loss, they were left with five of their next six first rounders after 2026 – they own 2027, 2028, 2030, 2031, and 2032.
The 2029 pick is missing from that listing. It, too, was sent to the Clippers in the aforementioned Zubac deal. It’s completely unprotected, so there’s no way the Pacers can get it, even with lottery luck. And, of course, their 2026 pick is in LA’s hands.
Indiana hasn’t made a first-round selection since 2023, when they selected Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard. In the interim, they traded their 2024 first rounder for Pascal Siakam and their 2025 top pick to re-acquire, then later flip, their 2026 selection. It’s been a long time since the blue and gold made one of the first 30 choices.
They won’t have a chance until the 2027 draft. As of now, they aren’t allowed to move their 2027 first rounder, but they will by the end of June. That’s because of an NBA rule that permits a team from not holding a first-round pick in consecutive drafts.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 22: Bilal Coulibaly (R) poses with NBA commissioner Adam Silver (L) after being drafted seventh overall pick by the Indiana Pacers during the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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The timing of the NBA Draft is a critical component of that rule, known as the Stepien Rule. Named after former NBA owner Ted Stepien, the rule is as stated above: NBA teams must hold at least one first round pick in every other draft, at least, for the upcoming seven drafts. At the time of this writing, that covers the 2026 through 2032 drafts. When the 2026 NBA Draft is over on June 24, that rule will cover the 2027 through 2033 events.
That’s a key distinction for the Pacers. Right this second, they cannot trade their 2027 first-round pick since they don’t have one in the upcoming 2026 draft. But they will be able to move their 2027 top pick once next month’s draft is over. And at that time, something else happens that Pritchard mentioned.
Once the 2026 NBA Draft ends, teams will be able to move their 2033 first-round picks. Their willingness to do so is tough to say after the NBA’s lottery reform, but it’s at least a possibility. And that pick being moveable would make it so the Pacers would have four first-round picks that could be moved in deals.
From June 25 onward, the Pacers could trade their 2027, 3031, 2032, and 2033 first-round selections. They could not move all four of them – trading all of 2031, 2032, and 2033 at the same time would not be allowed thanks to the aforementioned Stepien rule. But the 2027, 2031, and 2033 picks could all be moved in the same deal, as could the option to swap picks in any other year.
Pritchard somewhat noted all of this on social media well before the NBA Draft Lottery. While the Pacers would undeniably have preferred to keep a top-four pick in this year’s draft via that lottery drawing, they retained their 2031 pick by losing the 2026 selection. That does offer some future trade flexibility.
How the Pacers use that optionality will be telling. They have a window to contend right now. Dealing some future picks for win-now talent would improve their chances at success. Yet their youth pipeline is shrinking. If the team does want to trade for young talent or add a solid veteran, they have the picks to do it.
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